Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The Supreme Court indicated that it felt a person in the asylum process did not have residency status. I accept what Senator Norris has said. Such a person has a right to be in the country but not a right to reside in the country. This is the argument we are trying to protect here.

On the question of the Government making legislation, that is what Governments do. The chief appeals officer indicated in his judgment that it was open to the Legislature to bring about change if the Oireachtas wanted to exclude asylum seekers as a category. What we are trying to do here is not in any way to contravene anybody's human rights. We are not trying to interfere in any way with the asylum seeker process. All we are trying to suggest is that people who are in that process and who have not established a right to reside in the country cannot use that time to build up their right to social welfare.