Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will make my remarks though the Chair to be orderly. Of course, every person is entitled to seek refugee status if he or she is a genuine refugee. There are safe countries and presumptions. There must be some realism on this matter. Senator Higgins should know that many people posing as refugee applicants are, in fact, migrants. They are escaping poverty. I have no difficulty with what is driving them, but these are not genuine refugee applications.