International Protection Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-25
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Eileen Flynn (IND), Administrative Panel

-----or if he has ever seen the living conditions of the children. We have got thousands of children in this country living in hotels. That is a story for another day - children who are homeless. We have children living in direct provision who have to be in at a certain time, they get certain foods to eat and they have little or no choice in their dinners. They cannot stay back for after-school activities because they have to be in what I would say is the wee prison for a certain time. We cannot stand by this. In 30 years' time the Minister will look back. This is a scandal, an absolute scandal. We cannot come in here with our recommendations or our solutions. Too many times we are told the Opposition has no solutions. We are after putting in hundreds of amendments to this Bill to make it somewhat bearable for these children and for the adults living in direct provision. This is absolutely scandalous and I hope to God that, 30 years down the line, the Minister will look back in horrible regret. You are part of this, Minister, and that is something you need to think about. I am sorry. If it was any other Minister, it would be the same. It is the Department of justice----

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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