Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. He has been in office just over six months and this is probably his second or third time speaking about direct provision in the Seanad. This is an issue that is very close to the hearts of many Senators. The all-party working group on direct provision was founded from this House through Senator van Turnhout, Senator Ó Clochartaigh and others, including myself. We have endeavoured to keep this issue in the public domain by debating it here. Senator van Turnhout tabled a very interesting and successful motion on this issue last September which was addressed by the Minister of State.

This country has been campaigning in the United States - with some success and with limited success in other ways - for the rights of our own citizens, the 50,000 of our people who are undocumented in the United States. These people are unable to come home for funerals, for weddings, for special family events and to see elderly relatives. Yet this country, in my view, has, in some way, not necessarily turned its back but turned sideways in terms of how it deals with the vulnerable people who come to our country. There was a time in the 1970s and 1980s when signs were seen in America and in other European countries saying, "No Irish Need Apply." In a way, that is what we are saying to people who are living in direct provision. Our attitude is, "We do not particularly want you; we are putting you in a holding cell." Senator Ó Clochartaigh has arranged visits to direct provision centres in Galway, and asylum seekers have visited Leinster House on a couple of occasions. They have outlined to us in graphic detail the psychological trauma, the absolute sense of hopelessness and the sense of being a prisoner with no sentence, in that they do not know when their sentence will finish. As a society we cannot, we should not and, so far as I am concerned, we will not tolerate that. We need action. It is only since the Minister of State came into office that we have had the working group, which is not letting the dust settle under its feet, because it is working. Mr. Justice Mac Eochaidh's judgment outlined in detail that the complaints procedure was not independent, was not fair, was not fit for purpose and needed to change. This must be the number one and immediate priority that the Minister of State may have to deal with outside of the working group in order to put a system in place that has the confidence of people who are in direct provision. That is a small step that can be taken as a matter of absolute urgency, because the courts of the land have found that it is not fit for purpose.

I believe in positive politics and in consensual politics, under which we can achieve things. Members of the Opposition - Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Independent Members and others - are at one on the need for this problem to be resolved. I hope that 2015 will be the year in which we have a proper long-term, sustainable resolution to the problem of direct provision.

I call on the Minister of State to initiate an amnesty for anyone who has been in direct provision for longer than four years, irrespective of his or her circumstances, irrespective of whether his or her application has been turned down and is on appeal, irrespective of the background or the circumstances of the case. In the case of anyone who has been living in direct provision in this country for longer than 48 months, in my view, this State owes them an amnesty. Those who have been in direct provision for less than four years deserve fair play and proper procedure. They deserve their applications to be dealt with in a timely fashion.

Along with my colleague Senator Ó Clochartaigh, I visited a direct provision centre in Lisbon, organised by the Irish Refugee Council. While the system in Portugal is not perfect - certainly, the refugee council in Portugal would say it was not perfect - it is a lot more perfect than our system. It would be considered completely unacceptable for a person to be in a direct provision centre for longer than six months. They are usually dealt with on arrival. I would describe the centres as centres of excellence offering all sorts of facilities, including the opportunity to learn the language, to integrate and to become familiar with the culture of the country. Sporting facilities are available, as are proper, decent cooking facilities where people can cook their food of choice from their own country if they wish. There are significant advantages to the system in Lisbon, yet it is far from perfect, and that is what the people in Portugal would say. Certainly, if we are looking for a model system on which to base timeframes and facilities, the Portuguese system should be considered. I do not believe that for the millions of euro being expended on these reception centres we are getting value for money. We need to look at establishing State reception centres and we should consider having a far better system in airports and ports.

I have firmly believed for some time that a future Taoiseach will stand in the Dáil to deliver an apology to children who have grown up in direct provision. Unfortunately, that is something for which our generation is responsible. I refer to some of the apologies that have been given in the Dáil in the past year or two relating to what other generations have done, for which they were primarily responsible. I wish to point out that when the apology does happen in the future - I have no doubt it will happen - our generation will be responsible for treating people like that.