Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 23 provides for the inclusion of additional specific reasons an applicant can be detained. These relate to undermining the State's international protection system or an arrangement relating to the common travel area. Amendment No. 24 substantially gives effect to an amendment originally proposed in the Seanad by Senator Jillian van Turnhout that we undertook to examine. If a garda or immigration officer has reasonable grounds for believing someone has attained the age of 18, he or she shall get a second opinion from another officer. Obviously, we have had a lot of engagement on this and a number of other amendments I am accepting that will strengthen the Bill regarding the protection of children and ensure children's rights are well respected in what is very often a very difficult context for children and families. It is challenging for countries to deal with this effectively.

Amendment No. 25 is a technical amendment. Where an applicant in detention does not wish to proceed with his or her application for international protection and wishes to leave the State, the legislation provides that where a person is at the appeal stage of the process, any appeal under section 40 can be withdrawn, that is, if the individual himself or herself wants to withdraw it.

Amendment No. 26 provides for the prioritisation of the cases of applicants in detention. Amendment No. 27 is linked to amendment No. 23, which provides for the inclusion of additional specific reasons an applicant can be detained. It gives definitions for "arrangements relating to the Common Travel Area", "Common Travel Area territory", "substituted identity document" and "United Kingdom".