International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-25
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Pearse Doherty (SF), Donegal

It is the amendment. IPAS accommodation in the numbers that are required would not be required if processing happened. The vast majority of people who have applied based on past experience are not entitled to protection here. Therefore, if processing time was quickened up, then they would not need the accommodation that is here. The Government does not need a European pact to get its act together in relation to this. There was nothing stopping the Government in the past year to fix the processing time. The evidence is now that it is 14 months from initial application and 12 and a half months for appeal. It is 26 and a half months from initial application to the end of an appeal which is longer than it was in 2024. The Government is going backwards in relation to this. This is at the very core of it. It is about fixing a process that has been broken for many years. People who have applied here for international protection are not given the decision that they are entitled to protection in time and then supported and integrated into our community. They have to wait and wait and wait. There are others, which is unfortunately the majority of cases according to the statistics, who were never entitled to protection here anyway, but it has taken two and a half years for a decision to be made in relation to the initial application and the appeal that they may lodge. That goes to the core of what is there.
I commend the amendment. It is sensible. The Government should not fear the voice of the public. It should not fear engaging with communities. It should not fear carrying out an assessment in relation to any type of centre that is being located and whether this is the best place or maybe it is within boundaries of countries that there is another place that is more suitable.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25