Billy Lawless (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader call on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to attend the House in order to debate the provision of driver licences to asylum seekers? On a number of occasions I have raised the Supreme Court decision in NVH. v. Minister for Justice and Equality and ors. A judgment of profound significance and compassion, it was delivered by Mr. Justice Donal O'Donnell, who stated:

In my view, the point has been reached when it cannot be said that the legitimate differences between an asylum seeker and a citizen can continue to justify the exclusion of an asylum seeker from the possibility of employment. The damage to the individual's self worth, and sense of themselves, is exactly the damage which the constitutional right seeks to guard against. The affidavit evidence of depression, frustration and lack of self-belief bears that out.

Since this decision, the Government has announced that asylum seekers who have been waiting more than nine months for a determination on their first applications for refugee status will be able to apply for permission to work.

In the state of Illinois, which is my other home, we lobbied for and achieved the introduction of temporary visitor driving licences for undocumented persons working across the state. There is no reason for the same not to be done in Ireland. If asylum seekers are to be given the dignity of work in this country, something that I wholeheartedly support, it should follow that they have an entitlement to obtain a temporary driver licence for as long as they are lawfully allowed to work in this country. In light of the fact that many direct provision centres are outside main towns and cities, the Minister, Deputy Ross, informed the Lower House in September 2018 that he had asked his officials to re-examine the question of whether we should issue driver licences to asylum seekers.The Minister told the Dáil that he had asked his officials to re-examine whether we should issue driver licences to asylum seekers. He noted that some EU members states do so. I am calling on the Minister to come to the House to provide an update on the position and whether he will now introduce a system which facilitates those asylum seekers who have a legal right to work to obtain a driver licence.