In recent days asylum seekers applied to local authorities for a driving licence and were informed that they would not be granted one. In one county the local authority indicated that not only would the asylum seeker's driving licence be refused but licences currently held by other asylum seekers would be revoked.
Responsibility for this ruling was laid by the local authorities in question at the door of the Department of the Environment and Local Government. While it is clear that a written directive was not received, it was also clear that the Department had instructed local authorities in early November to refuse such applications. In one case we are talking about families who are living almost two miles from any shops or other social contacts and where there is no public transport. Irish friends offered to provide them with a vehicle and insurance cover. The asylum seekers had driving licences from their own country. All that was required was a provisional driving licence to be granted to them in Ireland. One can imagine their shock when they were refused a licence by the local authority.
Until recently, it has been common practice for asylum seekers to be granted provisional licences. When I investigated the matter, the Department of the Environment and Local Government appeared unclear about its position, yet at local level I received confirmation that there had been a clear change of policy. The proof of this change is irrefutable. It is in the experience of asylum seekers who are now being turned away and refused a licence to drive a vehicle.
The Department indicated to me that if an asylum seeker had a green book, he or she would be able to get a licence. However, I understand a green book is evidence of residency. If one has a green book, one does not need to apply for asylum. In any case, it is a minor miracle if one has a green book these days. One family went as far as going on hunger strike because for 12 months they had been denied a green book despite their clear right to one.
Insisting that asylum seekers need a green book before they can get a driving licence is similar to saying that one could have jam yesterday and have jam tomorrow but not today. Nobody has any difficulty with the principle that an asylum seeker needs to be in Ireland for six months before he or she qualifies for a licence. Given the long waiting time, that qualification is not onerous by any means.
However, the refusal to grant licences in recent times is a measure to constrain and constrict further the lives of asylum seekers. It was done quietly and casually and might not even have been exposed but for the fact that, despite the isolation of asylum seekers, there are Irish people who reach out a hand to them and acknowledge them as humans with the same needs and rights as us. Fortunately, these people went public and, as a result, I am convinced that this blockage is being removed.
As a result of the issue being highlighted, the Department has been forced to think again. I hope the intention is to open up once more the system of granting driving licences. However, I am raising the issue because it is important that the decision is put on the public record. Too often the treatment of asylum seekers at official level has been hallmarked by secrecy and injustice. For example, we are still waiting for the basic right to legal representation from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Last year, all parties in the House passed a resolution urging the full implementation of the Refugee Act, yet the Government has stubbornly refused to comply. Meanwhile, racism and prejudice are on the rise.
Let us remember that these people have a right to be in Ireland until their claim is processed. They have a right to social supports and we have a duty to comply with our international obligations to provide them. It is horrific that the spirit of these obligations is being so blatantly flouted. It appears the Government is intent on making the lives of these people as miserable and restricted as possible while they are with us. Asylum seekers are prevented from working and contributing. They are prevented from integrating. The official mindset determines that, in particular, young men who are well able and qualified to work are left to idle away their days, isolated from the social context of the world of work.
They are prevented from contributing to our society although there is a wide consensus extending from IBEC to ICTU to the INOU that they should be allowed to do so. They are prevented from studying in Ireland and now the controls are being ratcheted up to deny them even the freedom to drive a car. This is petty and vindictive. It is at variance with the general view among the public that we have a long history of emigration which obliges us to show humanity when it comes to dealing with those who are seeking refuge with us. Many of these people will not succeed in their desire to live and work among us. Some will succeed. Regardless of the outcome, while they are in Ireland asylum seekers are entitled to be treated humanely and decently. Even if common decency does not wield the authority that it should over the Government, international law demands it of us. I look forward to the Minister stating unequivocally that the practice of unfairly excluding asylum seekers from holding a driving licence is now ended.