International Protection Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-25
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Victor Boyhan (IND), Agricultural Panel

I welcome the Minister back to the House. I thank him and support all of these amendments. They are the Minister's amendments and clearly indicate that he listened. He said he would. He kept it concise. The amendments are primarily about children and vulnerable people, who were very much the principal concern of Senators on this side of the House who spoke and who are the ones who are extensively contributing to the whole debate. I want to acknowledge that. It is important. I will not go into great detail on it now because I will speak about it later, but we all received a letter from the Ombudsman for Children today expressing serious concerns about how asylum seeking children would bear the brunt of changes to the international protection legislation. It is covered in the Irish Examiner . The ombudsman raises many issues but I want to quote two lines from the article in the Irish Examiner , which was written by the ombudsman himself:
Complaints to my office show how children seeking asylum are already among the most vulnerable in Ireland and if the bill passes in its current form, it risks further undermining their rights.
Clearly, the ombudsman is not privy to the amendments the Minister has just tabled, or at least the rationale behind them, so that is important to say. The ombudsman goes on to say in the article:
It’s important to stress my concerns about the new system are not an endorsement of the way we currently treat children seeking asylum here [in Ireland]. I have repeatedly sounded the alarm on the inadequate care and protection afforded to these children.
In summary, I thank the Minister because I believe he has listened and has considered, to some extent, some of the arguments made in relation to these most vulnerable children and vulnerable people, whom he references also. I thank him and assure him of my support for his amendments.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-25