David Norris (Independent)

I call for a debate on asylum and immigration issues and ask the Leader to inform us when the relevant legislation will be introduced. I do so partly in light of the situation regarding the Polish woman who was mistranslated. I wish to refer to something Killian Forde said, if I could be heard, on the radio last night. He said with regard to the tabloids that the coverage of the issues was cheap, opportunistic and nasty and should not be allowed. I agree with him on that.

With regard to the deportation system, we have the worst record in Europe, 98.5% of asylum cases are rejected. On its last day in power, the appropriate Minister in the previous Government signed deportation orders for 200 people. He said he had given due consideration to each one. That is equivalent to a rate of approximately two minutes per case. Earlier this week I attended an event organised by BeLong To in Capel Street, an organisation for young gay people which is quite extraordinary. It has taken an important initiative, supported by Pobal and the HSE, in which it is involved in an educational process with the asylum authorities. We have had a situation where, for example, an Algerian man was refused because the person in charge said that his demeanour suggested that he was not gay. That is the most extraordinary stereotyping. In other words, he appeared masculine so he could not possibly be gay. That is the kind of extraordinary attitude women used to suffer. A Ugandan man was questioned about the existence of nightclubs. He did not know about them. It is astonishing that this level of ignorance should persist. People have also been returned to Nigeria - where they are in the process of reintroducing the death penalty - and to places such as Uganda. Gay people are told that they should conceal their identity. That is against protocols passed by the United Nations. Let us imagine if one were told that even if one is a Christian that one could not exhibit it in any way, that one had to conceal it, or that one had to conceal a political opinion.