David Norris (Independent)

To deal with the Minister of State's last point, that is a slightly different matter. People who come in and use education as a subterfuge and disappear into the undergrowth are very different from those who spend five years studying here. Although I respect and accept the Minister of State's experience, it is not directly applicable in this case and I am sure that, on mature reflection, he would agree. The one point the Minister of State made in this regard that I welcome was that if people were granted asylum without citizenship and then conditions appeared to change in the country from which they were fleeing, there would not be any great alacrity on the part of the Government to say to them that conditions at home are much better and they should return there.

I do not see why there is this fear of students, if they are bona fide students. I accept what the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, said. If they come to Ireland in an unauthorised fashion, are only posing as students and then disappear, that is a very different matter.