Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----which is the Department of Justice and Equality. I want to speak about the experiences of the Department of Justice and Equality. Historically, it has been a conservative Department and slow to embrace change. It has the benefit of a report from an all-party committee, which was unanimously approved, as well as the McMahon report, which we had significant concerns about, although it was certainly a step in the right direction. However, we can see that there are still major issues. Eugene Quinn, national director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, has spoken about the single procedure which is now in place but not being resourced. Applicants are still experiencing significant backlogs and delays. Mr. Justice McMahon, who oversaw the report, is very concerned about the slow progress. Then there are the alarming concerns outlined by the former Minister of State, Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.

The Department is always slow to bring in change, which is why we cannot support the proposed amendment. We have seen asylum seekers having to wait again and again. I remember when we were working on this report. I happened in the middle of it all to read that Ireland is the only country in the world today - I said this in the last Dáil too - that has a population smaller today than it was in the early 1800s. That is because we have a profound history of emigration.A famous book from the mid-1980s documented the fact that in the 65 years before it was written, half of the people in the State who survived childhood had emigrated. That trend continues right through to today. Our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters are in Australia, Canada and Britain. We appealed to those in Britain before the recent referendum there. With our history of emigration - the level of which is proportionately greater than that of any other state in the world - one would think we would adopt a compassionate approach not to economic migrants like we were, but to refugees and asylum seekers who come here from the most devastating situations. The Minister of State will agree it is a profound shame on our people and we have to sort it out. We must address it because we cannot continue to have delays. The system - which was supposed to be a short-term, emergency model - has been in place for 16 years. Some 52,000 human beings have come through the system, some of whom were in it for years. There are families that cannot teach their children the culture of food - which is profound to all cultures because they do not have kitchens in which to cook. They are living in a single room in some hotels. What kind of experience is that for a child? We have to do better. We are better than this.

I spoke to these asylum seekers and met their children. In fairness to the people who run the centres, we got full access and saw it all. We were looking into their faces, seeing what they were going through and listening to their stories. They really hoped that our report would make a difference. The report was submitted a year ago. They hoped that the McMahon working group would make a difference. The problem with the single procedure system, which is welcome, is that it focuses on elements that are not in the favour of refugees. I have a note of concern here from one of the NGOs, which I can pass to the Minister of State. It refers to what is happening with regard to the commencement of the International Protection Act 2015. Enforcement measures have been introduced but the measures that would benefit asylum seekers are not being implemented. The people working on the front line are not seeing progress and that is why a number of NGOs have reservations about aspects of Senator Norris's Bill. We appreciate its intent and ambition behind it. I am sure the Senator will work with us to deal with amendments on Committee Stage.