David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On amendment No. 104, our concerns are not about preventing exploitation or abuse of the system. We all want to ensure there are proper protections in place. We have to protect our borders, sovereignty and have an immigration system in place. The point is that it has to be fair, robust, along with safeguards built into it for those seeking asylum. Most importantly, we have to live up to our obligations under international, UN, EU, domestic law and, crucially, the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The Irish Refugee Council has called amendment No. 104 a shocking provision, which fundamentally undermines not only the right to asylum as guaranteed under the Charter of Fundamental Rights but the Dublin III regulation which also governs the allocation of member states’ responsibility for the examination of an application for international protection. This a broad extension of the grounds for refusing leave to land which, in the Irish Refugee Council’s opinion, raises serious concerns that people seeking protection are denied even entry into the State.It also extends way beyond and is disproportionate to the objective to be achieved, which is, as I stated earlier, state sovereignty over one's borders, in light of the fact that the Bill already provides for inadmissibility provisions under section 21, and the Dublin III regulation referred to earlier would also be applicable in such circumstances. Relevant rights that may be violated under this new provision include: the right to asylum; the right to an effective remedy; the right to equality before the law and non-discrimination; the prohibition on collective expulsions relating to Article 19 of the charter; and the prohibition on non-refoulement. It may also violate the right to good administration, which is Article 41 of the charter, as there are no clear procedural safeguards allowing the opportunity, for example, for a person to be heard before being denied entry to the State.

These are concerns not just from us in Sinn Féin. As I stated earlier, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, also share these concerns. We raise these issues not because we do not want the Minister to put in place proper protection for the State or we want people to be able to abuse or exploit the system, as we must ensure that does not happen. We must close any potential loopholes and the system must be robust. Nevertheless, it must also be fair. In circumstances where we do not see it being fair, we have a responsibility to call it as such, which is what we are doing with this amendment. I ask the Minister to reconsider the issue and listen to the views of the NGOs that have lobbied all of us on this and a number of other amendments.

I only speak to two amendments as I felt these are the most contentious and warrant more scrutiny. I ask the Minister to speak to amendment No. 104.