Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The amendment refers specifically to “this Act”, so it is not wider and it is only in regard to the aspects of “this Act”. I take the Minister of State's point in regard to amendments Nos. 17 and 18 but amendment No. 19 is specifically on how the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is being reflected in the operation of this Act, so it is quite targeted in that it only functions under this Act in regard to smuggling. We discussed further the relationship when power is ceded and when there is an intersection with another protocol state in regard to Irish ships, for example. This is the granular piece and quite a lot of powers are given.

There is another specific point that I wish to address because I did not see it in the amendments, but I see that we will deal with it under amendment No. 21. I got a little worried because that was one of the areas where, for example, I saw a danger of a failure to properly apply the convention. That perhaps relates to our discussion on amendment No. 3 rather than on amendment No. 17.