Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Yesterday in the Dáil another light was cast on the dark issue of suicide. I thank Deputy John Lyons of Dublin North-West, who asked the Minister for Justice and Equality about suicide among asylum seekers. A total of 49 asylum seekers died here in the past ten years while they were under the jurisdiction of the Reception and Integration Agency which is responsible for their care. Those who died did not die in the asylum centres but in hospitals and other locations. Eight asylum seekers died by suicide in the two years, 2003 and 2008. We must ask why.

Asylum seekers spend up to seven years waiting for a decision from the Government on whether they are to be allowed to stay. They have nothing to do all day and they have no social welfare payments. An adult gets a personal allowance of €19 per week. Because they are bored, with nothing to do but wait in vain, they get physically, mentally and psychologically sick. As a consequence, 49 asylum seekers have died. That has been brought to light just yesterday. I am sure nobody in this Chamber knew that asylum seekers were dying by suicide. I call on the Minister for Justice and Equality to urgently work with the Reception and Integration Agency to speed up decision making on whether people are to be allowed to stay here.

On the Arab spring and what is happening in many places, I commend the moral courage of the people in those countries. The Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, which trains many of these doctors in Ireland as well as in its medical establishment in Bahrain, should show its moral courage and speak out on behalf of the 47 doctors who, in keeping with their Hippocratic oath, are giving humanitarian aid to patients.