International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-03 ============================================================ Sarah O'Reilly (AON), Agricultural Panel I thank the Minister of State for coming in today. We must help those who are genuinely fleeing war or persecution, but those who are not genuine asylum seekers must be quickly identified and removed from the State. It is not fair to the Irish taxpayer to expect them to foot the bill for people seeking asylum even though they have no entitlement to it or where they are attempting to defraud the State. There is also the issue that has become a very lucrative spin-off industry, which is accommodation, and it is driven by huge profiteering. The timelines in this Bill are deeply concerning. Section 110 refers to a six-month examination period, yet allows for extensions that can extend the process to 21 months. Add in appeals and judicial reviews, and we could see cases unresolved for years on end. The Bill allows for an extension where complex issues of fact or law are in question. That is incredibly open-ended and likely to be abused. It sends out the message that Ireland is a light touch when it comes to illegal immigration. I am incredibly worried about the intention to increase reliance on Tusla for vulnerability assessments and the safeguarding of minors. Tusla is already under immense pressure in the context of its core child protection role. Since 2021, 121 cases of children under the case of Tusla and subjected to sexual abuse have been referred to the Garda. This is a systemic issue, but nothing has been done. The Government continues to outsource the care of vulnerable children to private, for-profit companies. What can go wrong? Things have gone wrong, and that set to continue. What measures are in place to prevent adult asylum seekers whose ages cannot be verified from being housed in the same accommodation as children? There are staff in Tusla who do not have the necessary qualifications to even work with children. The Government has offered no reassurances when it comes to increasing funding or staffing for Tusla, so how can we be expected to vote in favour of a Bill that does not prioritise the safety of vulnerable children? To see the Government vote against an amendment on community impact assessments last week was shocking. Our schools, GP services, housing supply and local infrastructure are already stretched in many areas. How could anyone oppose an assessment of services in an area before the opening of an asylum centre? That goes against all logical reasoning. I cannot support the Bill in its current form. I will be tabling amendments. Given how the Government guillotined the debate on the Bill in the Dáil, I do not believe the Minister is open to input. However, I hope to be proven wrong. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-03/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:42+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-03