Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and commend him on his great and well-documented commitment to the reform of the direct provision system, which I think is accepted by everyone. When we all spoke about this on Second Stage last night, I was one of the many Senators who highlighted the need to reform the direct provision procedure and deal with the implementation of all the working group's recommendations. I accept that they cannot all be implemented. I think most Senators will agree it is reasonable to say that they cannot all be addressed in a single Bill. As everyone knows, this is a specific piece of what was originally a much bigger Bill. This legislation is designed to address the length of time applicants have been spending in the direct provision system. This issue is the subject of perhaps the most significant recommendation of the working group and is the most significant issue we all have with direct provision. As I said this morning, it is unfortunate that we are getting so much legislation from the Department of Justice and Equality so late in the day. As the Labour Party's justice spokesperson in this House, I am conscious, as are all the other justice spokespersons, that a great deal of work will have to be done within a very short space of time. The principle of this important Bill has been welcomed by all the non-governmental organisations. They are all pleased that for the first time, a reformed single procedure will be put in place to replace the unwieldy, cumbersome and deeply flawed process that is currently in place under the Refugee Act 1996, as amended. I think all of us should recognise that while we address the flaws in the Bill. This is a Committee Stage debate. I do not think it is appropriate to be having Second Stage speeches on direct provision more generally now. This Bill is designed to address the particular issue of the enormous delays that are currently being experienced by applicants for refugee status because of the length of time our flawed process takes.