Departmental Meetings
Dail Éireann — 2025-07-10
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

I agree there should be rules and checks. Nobody has said that more in this Chamber than me probably in recent years. However, I have also said it needs to be compassionate. That is something the Tánaiste has said too and that there should be a strict system and compassionate response. There are dozens of children unaccompanied coming to this country annually at the moment anyway. That is the state of the situation. Look at the two approaches between Ukraine and Palestine. There are 112,189 people from Ukraine here. They do not need a visa. They are considered, for their temporary situation, to be nearly European citizens in what they can do. I understand that. On the other side, we have 33 Palestinian children from the GAA Palestine project. It is very obvious there is a two-tier approach that is materially different. Those two groups have had a completely different material difference in relation to this. Will the Tánaiste formally ask the Minister for justice to intervene on this and see if visas can be provided for these children?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-07-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-07-10