International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Sharon Keogan (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

The words used there were "likely to be a paralegal." I am really concerned about that. There are many people around the country who are seeking asylum at this moment and going through the immigration process with unscrupulous immigration consultants who do not have a legal background at all. They end up paying out thousands to these people. It is important that legal counselling is coming from accredited individuals, licensed individuals, to stop that happening. I do not know how the Minister is going to do that. These are the most vulnerable people who are coming to our country. Tomorrow morning I could go out and set up an immigration consultancy, and off I go and charge anybody any amount I like. That is what is happening in this country at this time and there is no accreditation framework to stop those people acting in this way.

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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