Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, I met two guys who would be classed as International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, asylum seekers. One of them had quite good English and I was talking to him for a little while. He explained to me the boredom he faces in his daily life and the sense of a lack of fulfilment from not being able to work. One was a qualified carpenter and the other chap was a qualified mechanic. Most of these men are of working age and they are fleeing wars, persecution and whatever else. Most of the asylum seekers who have come to IPAS are men, of course, and we have approximately 25,000 here. While it is hard to get an exact number, it seems that most or a large proportion of the applications are approved when the State gets them through the system. As we know, that had been extremely cumbersome in recent years but we believe it has been speeded up to maybe a half-year process instead of the position heretofore, when we were looking at guys being kept in Ireland over a period of years.Particularly because of our jobs crisis, these individuals should be entitled to training in specific skills under SOLAS and the education and training boards. Maybe they have all the skills already and it is just a matter of confirming what they are. After training, I would let the individuals work and give them their dignity until we assess them. They might as well be contributing to our economy as sitting in a room all day with four other guys or walking up and down the villages of Ireland. Our policy on this is insane. If there are 25,000-odd people, it is quite possible that some 20,000 will be retained in Ireland. We might as well educate them and let them find their way until we make an assessment.

I am not certain whether my well-respected colleague Senator Boyhan wants to join Deputy Devlin on the ticket in Dún Laoghaire but-----