Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This week, we learned of the horrific plight of Seamus Culleton, a Kilkenny man who has been held in deplorable conditions by ICE agents for nearly five months. Seamus's sister Caroline and his wife Tiffany have been living through a complete nightmare and are deeply concerned for his physical and mental well-being.His family have not received regular contact from the Department of foreign affairs on his case. As a core pillar of work for the Department is consular support, I am incredibly frustrated to hear that Irish citizens and their families are not receiving the proper support while in detention overseas. There are questions to be answered about this gap, particularly in light of ICE raids and detentions in the US in the past year.

ICE has been executing US citizens in the streets so we can only wonder about the conditions that Irish citizens could be held in behind gates and locked doors in ICE facilities. Has the Department been proactively reaching out to at-risk Irish communities in the US to provide legal advice in advance of potential detentions? Is the Department updating its travel advisory for the US to highlight the risk of detention? If not, why not? I would like to have an urgent debate about the safety of Irish citizens overseas, particularly in the US. It is not good enough to say that because they are overseas, we cannot do anything for them. We have a duty to protect Irish citizens wherever they may be.

Another story broke on Friday about ICE and Ireland, specifically that a plane carrying shackled-together Palestinian ICE detainees stopped over in Shannon for aircraft refuelling. Like Seamus, some of those deported have families, jobs and entire lives in the US, having lived there for years. They have now been flown to an active war zone in which Israel continues to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing. This obscenity is a violation of their human rights and it is being facilitated by Shannon Airport and, therefore, by the Irish State. There are serious questions to be answered by the Government on whether it views this as a breach of international law and the action it will take to control the situation and stop ICE deportation flights from refuelling in Shannon. I would like us to have a debate on this. It is completely unacceptable.