Green Party: Supreme Court decision ‘highlights failures of asylum system’

Greens welcome decision on asylum seekers’ right to work

Green Party Spokesperson for Justice, Councillor Roderic O’Gorman today welcomed the Supreme Court decision that an indefinite ban on asylum seekers working was unconstitutional.

Speaking today, he said: “I welcome today’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court that Section 9(4) of the Refugee Act 1996, which prohibits persons who are seeking asylum here in Ireland from working, is unconstitutional. The judgment draws attention to another failure of our asylum system which directly undermines the human rights of asylum seekers.

“Two years ago, the McMahon Report on improving the asylum system identified the lack of ability to work as having a hugely negative impact on asylum seekers. I was glad to see in today’s decision, the Court put a particular focus on the damage that the complete prohibition on working does to an individual’s sense of self-worth.

“The Supreme Court drew particular attention to the fact that under Irish law, there is no set time period within which a person’s application for asylum must be processed. That meant that, as long as the State failed to determine the asylum application, the individual was prevented from earning a living. The Court has given the Oireachtas six months to introduce legislation to address this particular breach of constitutional rights. The Government should take the decisive step of providing a legislative time frame within which it guarantees that asylum applications will be resolved and, if this time period is not met, rights to work will be provided.

“The Government should also take this opportunity to look at the continual failure of Direct Provision as a system and take steps to finally end this grossly unsuitable model of dealing with vulnerable people.”

ENDS

Further info: Working Group to Report to Government Working Group on the Protection Process on Improvements to the Protection Process, including Direct Provision and Supports to Asylum Seekers (McMahon Report, 2015) p22