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

I support Senator Boyhan on this amendment. The more one engages with this, no matter what side of the various proposed amendments one is on, the more one sees that we are dealing with legislation that is unusually concerned with, quite frankly, human misery on many levels. It is difficult for any government to try to strike the balance, to use a phrase the Minister has used several times over the past few hours as we have debated this. One thing for sure is that even when one cannot guarantee the type of life for people who come to this country for whatever reason because of the requirements of having a sane and sensible migration system, there can be no doubt that in all of the State's dealings with people there must be an attempt to respect their human dignity in all cases. It seems to me that regular reporting on the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers is all the more appropriate precisely because of the human distress at the heart of so many of these stories, regardless of whatever adjudications have to be made on people's cases.
I also commend Senator McDowell on spotting a Standing Order of the Seanad that may perhaps be more honoured in the breach than the observance. I would like to hear the Minister's view. It is so long since I memorised the Standing Orders of this House that I cannot remember whether I actually did or not. I do not know whether there is a similar Standing Order in the Dáil. I would be glad to hear the Minister's attitude to the provision Senator McDowell has just referred to.

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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