The Law Society has repeated its call for an end to “the non-statutory system of direct provision”, in an appearance before an Oireachtas committee.

The Law Society also highlighted deficiencies within the present system that needed to be addressed, to ensure that an alternative system was “grounded in the principles of human rights, respect for diversity and respect for privacy and family life”.

Stephen Kirwan (Law Society’s Human Rights and Equality Committee) made the comments in an appearance before the Oireachtas Committee on Public Petitions on Thursday (16 September).

Recommendations

During the opening statement, the Society raised a number of concerns about the present system that should be taken into consideration when creating an alternative system.

Among the recommendations discussed were the need for the Department of Justice to:

• Provide the opportunity for legal advice before conducting preliminary international-protection interviews and completion of the questionnaire,
• Address the significant and growing backlog of existing cases in an urgent and pragmatic manner, and grant leave to remain to those who have been in the system for more than two years,
• Put appropriate guidance about the role of solicitors in the International Protection Office interview on a statutory footing, to ensure consistency, transparency and fairness for all international-protection applicants, and
• Remove barriers to international-protection applicants accessing the labour market – including matters related to opening bank accounts, applying for driving licences, and other difficulties posed by the remoteness of some direct-provision centres.

Delays a key issue

Sinéad Lucey (chair of the Law Society’s Human Rights and Equality Committee,) said that the organisation had welcomed the publication of the White Paper on direct provision in February, and the Government’s commitment to creating a new system.

“Our recommendations discussed before the Oireachtas Committee on Public Petitions, if implemented, would represent substantial progress to achieve this,” she said.

Lucey added that the many barriers currently faced by people seeking international protection in Ireland – including delays – were avoidable, and must not be transferred to the new system.

"Application delays not only undermine the integrity of the international-protection system – they are the root cause of significant and preventable stress to those within it,” she said, adding that there was an urgent need to clear case backlogs.