International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-18
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Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central

I support Deputy Kelly's amendment. It is a shame we have even got to this point. Each time we say this Bill caters for the detention of children and that it is the first time in the history of the State that such legislation will be enacted, I get a sense from the Minister he does not think it is a fair description. Last week either he or the Minister of State said this was only for a 12-hour defined period and I think the phrase used was that it would be done when it was in the best interest of the child. There is no human rights organisation that considers the detention of children to ever be in the best interest of the child. I will be supporting Deputy Kelly's amendment but we need to be very careful. The history of this State and the institutional incarceration of people who committed no crimes should hang heavy over all we do when we seek to enact measures such as this.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-18