Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A Burmese man who spent eight years in direct provision has won his Supreme Court appeal over the legal ban preventing him from working. The court has adjourned the matter for six months to allow the Legislature to consider the matter. According to Mr. Justice O'Donnell, “This damage to the individual’s’ self worth and sense of themselves, is exactly the damage which the constitutional right [to seek employment] seeks to guard against.” The right to work for asylum seekers is a fundamental one that has been denied for far too long. It is a matter that many others and I have raised directly with the Minister of State in the past. Regrettably, he has always been adamant that under no circumstances would he consider the issue of the right to work.

I have visited the direct provision centre in Knockalisheen and seen at first hand adults sitting and staring into space as the day goes by with nothing to do. I have spoken to staff who have been at pains to stress the negative effects on asylum seekers of being prevented from working for years at a time. In 2015, the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions described the direct provision system as not being fit for purpose. In the same report, HIQA stated that it had grave concerns about the mental health of those in such a system. In 2015, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called it a severe violation of human rights, yet previous Governments have stood by the system.