Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has been in the House to debate the Immigration Residence and Protection Bill and is determined to produce legislation that reflects best international practice in the area. The Bill integrates our ad hoc refugee and immigration legislation, which is a worthwhile exercise. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, while praising aspects of the Bill, has suggested that there are areas in which it falls short of best practice. As monitors of legislation we should be aware of this. One of its main recommendations is that the legislation does not fully observe the non-refoulement principle, based on Article 33 of the 1951 refugee convention which states that a person should not be sent to a country where his or her life or freedom——