International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

I have two very quick further questions. On section 81, as we were saying previously, if somebody is proposed to be removed to a different member state, they would be notified. The Minister then changed it from "legal counselling" to just "legal representative". Could he clarify what the intention is there and what happens to persons who do not have a legal representative when their removal is proposed? Will they believe that the legal counsellor is going to know what is happening to them? Will they be given an opportunity to seek legal representation? What is happening at that point? Second, on Government amendment No. 15, I refer to the rationale for the removal of the language, the removal of the specific legal representation definition, to remove the phrase "practising barrister or practising solicitor" and to delete that from the definition of legal representation. This is not legal counselling but legal representation. Could the Minister talk through the logic on that?

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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