Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, pay tribute to Nelson Mandela. He was a man, the like of which the world has rarely seen, and we may not see a man of such calibre again in our lifetimes. It is important to remember that Nelson Mandela brought home to us that we are all connected by a universal human thread and strongly emphasised what constitutes humanity. It is also important to remember that he was cut off from and denied humanity during his incarceration of many years. It is in that context that I raise the report published by the Irish Refugee Council today on the system of direct provision and the manner in which asylum seekers are treated. Many asylum seekers are incarcerated in the system of direct provision. The Irish Refugee Council makes clear in its recommendations that significant changes are required to the system. It does not behove us, on a day when Nelson Mandela is being honoured by the people of Ireland through the attendance of our President and Tánaiste at his funeral in South Africa, to allow a system of direct provision to operate, under which children are being raised without family life and adults and families are effectively imprisoned. It is not acceptable that we allow this system to continue.