Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On Senator Ward's points, we have tried to address that in our phrasing. We did not say that the State shall perform its functions in a manner consistent with this. We are conscious that the State is already obliged to do that. We are really looking for an extra level of the State ensuring the operation of these functions, especially since there are sections of this legislation where power is delegated and we have engagement with other states within the protocol. At present, Poland is clearly signalling that it will not abide by the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and blatantly disregarding the European Convention on Human Rights. When we come to it, which we will because of the state of origin rules, it will place an obligation on us because we cannot simply delegate if there is non-refoulement. We will also have a responsibility to ensure we do not allow persons to be placed in jeopardy of their rights because of these conventions not being recognised.

I understand that the Minister of State is telling us that these rules apply and we all agree that they should apply. Different kinds of actions that will happen under this legislation will be looked at in a granular way. We need risk-proofing. There might be an opportunity between Committee Stage and Report Stage for us to meet the Department and for the Minister of State to tell us how we can be sure these will be applied. What will the checks be? I have no doubt that the checks for certain functions under this legislation are robust but there are also new functions. Perhaps we might need to press that now. It is core to our concern so I would appreciate if we could sit with the Department and talk through what steps ensure that this is applied. It is unfortunate that we cannot be confident that other signatories to these conventions will apply them. We need a practical test. We do not need to be solely in the letter but also in the spirit and practice of these conventions. It is unfortunate that we are seeing an erosion of their implementation.