Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for facilitating us in the Seanad by agreeing to take this debate on conclusion of Committee Stage of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Bill 2014. As Deputy Leader, I was happy to accede to the request from Senator Ó Clochartaigh on the basis that I think it is a good idea that we would have a debate on motions that come to us from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality or from other committees, particularly where they concern issues of significance. However, I would say that the committee had a very full debate yesterday and sat for nearly an hour. I certainly participated in it, Deputy Mac Lochlainn from the Senator's own party participated in it and it was agreed unanimously that we would opt in. Indeed all of us, including the Chairman, Deputy Stanton, put questions to the Minister on detailed aspects of the application of this Eurodac regulation and this decision to opt in. I think Senator Ó Clochartaigh has raised various other issues around the treatment of asylum seekers, stigmatisation and direct provision, which he has raised many times. I would share many of his concerns and I know the Minister does as well and has responded.

It is important to look at the detail of Eurodac. I do not want to reiterate and rehash the entire debate from yesterday but I raised very particular issues concerning the treatment of minors because the Eurodac system permits the fingerprinting of those aged 14 and upwards. I know the Minister said that she had raised those issues and had similar concerns. We teased out these matters and the balance of rights of asylum seekers against the interests of ensuring both the efficient processing of asylum claims and international protection claims across the EU and preventing terrorism and serious criminality on a cross-Border basis. We also considered the issue of the timing - why we are opting into it now. We considered the implications of the Prüm decision and the fact that Ireland has not yet implemented it fully in the context of the recent passing of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014.

We considered a wide range of issues, including the issue of latent fingerprints, which was raised by the Senator, and the Dublin regulation. In the course of the debate, the transcript of which I urge colleagues to look at, the Minister assured us that asylum seekers are not being sent back to Greece and that an agreement had been made on that, something of which I had been unaware. I know the Minister will respond more fully but Senator Ó Clochartaigh's party colleague was satisfied as to the decision the committee was taking. It was a unanimous decision and we did have a very full debate. I am happy to have the debate again on the floor of this House and I think it is useful to do so. I would say to colleagues that Ireland already takes part in the application of the original Eurodac regulation. The recast Eurodac regulation is still primarily about asylum and claims for international protection. The law enforcement aspect, which we also teased out in the committee, is not the primary function of this. I urge colleagues to support the motion.