Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his engagement. I urge him to reflect further on where the balance might be. If we are going with what I regard as the risky strategy of relying on prosecutorial discretion, I suggest that we put measures in place to track how that pans out. I also recommend a review. The review we proposed had a number of caveats but there is nothing to stop the Minster of State from putting in an amendment providing for a review with those factors considered. I know there will be a post-enactment report but a review would be merited if we found in that post-enactment report that there had been unintended consequences. We talked about the metrics for what happens with regard to prosecutorial discretion, the outcomes for smuggled persons and, crucially, whether those other, ancillary issues are actually being addressed. Matters such as how we are reviewed on our human rights performance are going to be core considerations.

I thank the Minister of State for indicating that he will engage on some matters. I think we are taking something of a risk with this approach. I believe an exemption for humanitarian action would be a safer position but if the Minister of State cannot accept that, I urge him to build in a review in one year or two years' time, ideally during the lifetime of this Oireachtas and while the Minister of State is still in office, because I believe he has an understanding of these issues and cares about them. That would allow us the opportunity to ensure that we have not gone down the wrong path. I again ask the Minister of State, in his capacity at the Council of Ministers and in the context of engaging through his colleagues, to ensure that Ireland will be a champion of humanitarian action. There are many forces arrayed against such action right now. If we are in a situation where the law and prosecutions relating to smuggling are being circumvented, can we make sure that Ireland speaks up? We may not have our Naval Service out there doing search and rescue any more, which is heartbreaking, but we can at least speak up whenever we are in a room where these matters are discussed. I hope the Minister of State will do that.