International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Lynn Ruane (IND), University of Dublin

I want to put it in more practical terms and to understand it in a step-by-step manner for my own understanding. Amendment No. 14, at paragraph (c)(iv), provides for "guidance on and explanation of the criteria and procedure for determining the Member State responsible in accordance with Part 4". Are we saying that in a scenario where somebody is provided with legal counselling and where that person is not a regulated barrister or solicitor, in the contact between that legal counsel and the individual who is seeking international protection, the person providing legal counsel can make a determination or an assessment as to what member state is responsible for the international protection applicant? Where does that person then send that information? Where does that assessment go? If I were a legal counsel and engaged with someone and went through criteria and procedures with them, and I, a legal counsel but not a barrister or solicitor, determined that Ireland was not the member state responsible for this individual, would that person then automatically be transferred to another member state or would we at that point introduce proper representation from a legal perspective to make that serious legal determination about where someone's international protection application should be processed? I want to understand in a practical way. If the Minister was not a barrister or solicitor but was a legal counsellor, what would happen if he were to meet that individual and make that determination under amendment No. 14 in respect of the member state's responsibility? I want to understand in practical terms.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-18