International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

I strongly support this amendment from Senator Boyhan. I urge the Minister to accept it. As has been pointed out, it is an obligation that is there. Given that there are so many issues we will not get to discuss, at a minimum we should be in a position to discuss how the concerns we have identified have played out in the report. On humane treatment, there are provisions for the thresholds for medical age assessments for children and how that will be applied. There are provisions and questions on care and medical care for those applicants who may have medical care needs, and even unsuccessful applicants who may be facing deportation and may seek the removal of medical care. That is an issue that would need to be addressed. Something else that is touched on in the Bill that we have not had any opportunity to discuss in the context of humane treatment in detention is the accommodation material reception conditions. There has been no discussion or scrutiny of those issues. I will not go over them again, but the powers of detention we have talked about potentially stretch to lawful citizens as well. We mentioned that those executing these powers potentially might not have to identify themselves and might be able to search and enter private homes without warrant, and search without warrant the belongings of persons and potentially remove items without even the basics of a receipting system attached to it. There are huge questions with regard to national law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Charter that are correctly named by Senator Boyhan. If the Minister is not willing to allow us proper debate on each of those issues as they evolve throughout the Bill, the minimum is that we would have the chance to discuss a report on how this has played out subsequently.

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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