International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-18
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Alan Kelly (LAB), Tipperary North

We need a definition. We in the Labour Party included this amendment because we felt we are now crossing into a new level we have never before dealt with in the State in respect of holding people, including children, who are vulnerable. This is going down a road which is unacceptable to many. I listened to what the Minister said. Some of what he said I genuinely accept, when he includes the three provisos. The third is very subjective. I accept he referred to all three. The third one is quite subjective and that is worrying.
If the Minister will not accept my amendment, which I will press, he may want to consider bringing forward something in the Seanad. It looks like he is not doing anything on Report Stage because he wants to pass the Bill next week. We have a new departure and need to ensure that the most vulnerable, including children, who will be in this situation are protected to the nth degree. That is why we have taken quite a long period of time to put forward this amendment. We did so because as a party we thought it was important that this was prescribed and defined. This is a can of worms that the Minister does not want to open. If he does not get this right, it will cause significant issues for very vulnerable people, including children under the protection of the State. We need to be very clear and defined as to how we will deal with this through this definition.

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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