David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept the amendment. It is not clear if the Government will still be here in 18 months. That is a very optimistic forecast. I thought I would have a miscarriage trying not to laugh when Senator Butler said we did not go far enough and talked about people milking the system and fraudulently using the legal system. The Minister of State gave in to that. What in the name of God is the legal system for if people are not to be allowed to use it? It is the right of every person to use it and people are not false claimants until they are so judged. It is like being innocent until proven guilty.

Matters have improved. We all remember the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and the couple of old blisters, one of whom said he had only let two people in out of 500 cases. Another said he had not let any in. A former European Commissioner, a former Member of this House, with some solicitors took them to court. The case was agreed outside the court. What happened was an absolute and utter disgrace. I instance the judgment of Ms Justice Maureen Harding Clark to support that.

I had another spasm of laughter when the Minister of State invoked ISIS. I have heard everything now. Under the Bill, the Minister can revoke the residence permit and deport a person under a whole series of criteria, including if the deportation of the person would, in the view of the Minister, be conducive to the common good. What more does the Minister of State want, tumbrels at the door of the Department of Justice and Equality to fire people out of?

We do not really have a date, except the autumn, for the commencement of the single procedure. There should also be clear provision for legal assistance in all cases including ad hoc business. It is very important that people have access to appeal in all cases. The introduction of the Ombudsman is important.

The McMahon report also indicated the need for proper funding and the establishment of a task force. I have been in this House so long I have heard of things going through but without implementation bodies. It is the implementation body that really counts and ensures that things happen. I am not sure those who compiled the McMahon report listened carefully to the voices of refugees. For example, when they were talking about a cap, almost all of them suggested a cap of six months on the process but that is not referred to at all in the McMahon report.

The Government has made various commitments. The last time this was brought up we heard that everything would be resolved in approximately six weeks. Not that much has happened. About half the recommendations have been implemented, including several that are negative from the asylum seekers' point of view. I call for resources. In terms of the report, one of the most important paragraphs is where it says, "In the case of all persons awaiting a decision at the protection process and leave to remain stages who have been in the system for five years or more, the solution proposed is that they should be granted protection status or leave to remain (subject to certain conditions) as soon as possible and within a maximum of six months from the implementation start date". That is amnesty in anybody's language. The Minister said there is no amnesty suggested in the McMahon report but I do not know what that is if it is not amnesty.

Then there is the question of the amounts of money. It is very difficult for people to survive on what is provided. I acknowledge, which I do not think anybody else has, that the rate for children has been increased, but only marginally. That presents another difficulty. If we abolished the system immediately and people were still left with €19.10 a week, how would they live? There has to be a transition process for people.

I thank the Minister of State for his graciousness and also his advisers, some of whom I know personally and for whom I have a great professional regard. I thank all Senators who took part, particularly the ones who made me laugh.