International Protection Bill 2026: From the Seanad Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15 ============================================================ Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South The current legislation is much shorter. In fact, I think Deputy Kelly was in government when the International Protection Act 2015 was enacted. If one looks at the judgments of the superior courts, there are endless judgments on the international protection system that operates in Ireland at present - people challenging it by way of judicial review and challenging the executive operation of it. It is a very litigious area because of the large number of people coming in and the very high proportion of refusals. There would not be any legal challenges if nobody was refused. There is a high level of refusals and because of that, people challenge it. On legal counselling, I am conscious people may say it is inappropriate that legal counselling is not provided by qualified solicitors or barristers. I disagree. There are very many people able to provide legal counselling in respect of the procedures that apply in an area in which they have expertise. I believe this is one of them. If one looks at the definition set out in a later amendment, No. 7, there is a very clear definition of what legal counselling is. It means "any guidance, information or assistance given to an applicant on matters relating to the application procedure by a person appointed under" the legislation. It sets out that it will be guidance on the procedure and assistance with the lodging of an application, guidance on the different procedures, rules relating to admissibility, legal issues arising in the course of the procedure, guidance on and explanation of the criteria and procedure for determining the member state responsible, and issues such as that. That will be provided through Legal Aid Board. If they are not qualified solicitors or barristers, they will be very well trained paralegals who will be able to provide that assistance. That is something we provide to people bringing applications and as it gets to people appealing, there is an obligation to provide more by way of legal services. I recall we had a lengthy debate on Second Stage about legal counselling. Deputy Gannon understandably asked what it was about and where the term "legal counselling" came from. I have now set out a definition. It is a good definition of how information and counselling can be provided in circumstances where applications are being made. In many instances, although it is an area of great complexity in the law, the process of applying for asylum is relatively straightforward. A person has to recount the reasons they are fleeing persecution or war and why Ireland should provide them with asylum. Those are the basic tenets of it. One does not need to be an extraordinarily qualified lawyer to explain that to the individual or to advise them of the procedures. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-15