Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 7 May 1998

Vol. 490 No. 6

Written Answers. - Committee on Immigration.

Liz McManus

Ceist:

98 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform whether the interdepartmental committee on non-nationals has concluded its deliberations; the recommendations, if any, made by the committee; the proposals, if any, he has to give legislative effect to these recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10904/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I assume the Deputy is referring to the Interdepartmental Committee on Immigration, Asylum and Related Issues.

This committee reported in February. The following is a summary of its recommendations:

1. An amnesty should not be granted to asylum seekers.

2. When the additional staff for processing asylum applications are in place, the majority of the staff should be allocated to dealing with applications already made but a sufficient number should be allocated to deal quickly with new applications so as to bring about a speedy and effective system for dealing with new applications while cutting the backlog.

3. All appropriate assistance should be given by the relevant public bodies to facilitate the integration into Irish society of persons recognised as refugees or given leave to remain in the State on humanitarian grounds.

4. Repatriation, acknowledged by the UNHCR (among other bodies) as necessary in order to preserve the integrity of the asylum process, should, as far as possible, be on a voluntary basis.

5. Ireland should participate in the work of the International Organisation of Migration and in the Intergovernmental Consultations on Asylum, Refugee and Migration Policies in Europe, North America and Australia.

6. Ireland should conclude re-admission agreements with appropriate countries.

7. Legislation should be examined to see what changes might be possible to eliminate abuses of Irish citizenship law in regard to post-nuptial citizenship and the deliberate arrangement of births to non-national parents here.

8. New legislation should be brought forward on immigration matters which should cover visas and other pre-entry clearance systems, admission and refusal of admission, residence permits and the regulation of employment, long-term inward migration and a more straightforward system for removal of persons who have no permission to be in the State.

9. Legislation should be put in place to criminalise trafficking in illegal immigrants and to penalise persons who employ such immigrants.

10. When a new system of residence permits is in place, the providers of publicly funded services such as social welfare, health, education, employment training and accommodation should notify the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform of applicants for these services who do not have the appropriate documentation.

11. The proposed new immigration legislation should make suitable provision to regulate the immigration of persons who do not need to come in contact with State services.

12. A comparative study between Irish legislation and that of EU partners should be carried out to ascertain what changes might be necessary to the Refugee Act to align Irish policy more closely with that of EU partners.

The Government accepted these recommendations and agreed that the new legislation referred to should be brought forward on a priority basis. Work is proceeding on this.

The recommendation at 7 above will fall to be considered in the light of the outcome of the Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Negotiations on 10 April and its implementation.