International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Patricia Stephenson (SD), Labour Panel

On amendment No. 21, I appreciate that, as the Minister said, the best interest of the child is mentioned in other parts of the Bill. For this amendment, we had consultation with the Ombudsman for Children and that is why it worded as it is. We have not just picked these six categories off the top of our heads. Surely a seventh category could be added, with any other factors taken into account should the Minister feel it is limiting. Perhaps that is something that could be looked into on Report Stage.
The Minister referenced a binding obligation of the State towards the rights of the child anyway, if I understood his contribution correctly. We obviously have the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We might consider bringing a different amendment on Report Stage to look at instilling the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in this legislation. We would all agree that the ratified UN treaty is something that we would be hoping to instil in all legislation as it relates to children.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19