Vol. 442 No. 2
94 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Justice if she intends introducing legislation to further protect the rights of refugees in Ireland; if so, when; if the Government appointed committee on non-Irish nationals has recommended change in existing legislation; and if so, when the relevant legislation will be introduced.
On 14 January 1994 the report on applications for refugee status by the Interdepartmental Committee on non-Irish Nationals was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. The main recommendation of the interdepartmental committee was that arrangements for examining and deciding applications for refugee status should be placed on a statutory footing with provision for an appeals mechanism.
A general scheme of a Bill taking account of the recommendations of the interdepartmental committee report was drawn up and submitted to Government. The Government, having considered the proposals, gave formal approval on 1 March 1994 for the drafting of a Bill.
It is my intention that the Bill will be introduced as soon as possible and when work on drafting of the Bill has been completed, I will arrange for its immediate publication.
