Sir, - I am directed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, John O'Donoghue, TD, to respond to Ms Medb Ruane's column of March 27th.
There is much to take issue with in her column but the following passage is breathtaking: "It can be simple. Grant asylum for outstanding cases, operate a quota system for future non-EU nationals, and devise a lottery method for so-called non-skilled borderline cases."
Notwithstanding that issues relating to asylum seekers are of substantial concern in many countries and certainly every other member state of the European Union, I am not aware of anyone other than your columnist who has a "simple" solution to the issues involved. That, of course, is because there is no "simple" solution.
Ms Ruane might like to reflect on the fact that there is an obligation on all parties to the Geneva Convention to consider whether a person who claims refugee status is so entitled and where it is determined that the person is a refugee that person must be granted protection. That is exactly the approach taken in this country, even though operating the system is made substantially more difficult by the fact that many people who claim asylum are not entitled to refugee status.
What Ms Ruane's silly attempt at an analysis appears to amount to is this: We should grant protection to those who are here at present who are not entitled to it under the Convention. Then we should operate a quota system for future non-EU nationals. In other words, we would only admit so many irrespective of whether or not people were entitled to protection under the Convention.
I would suggest that this would stand our obligations under the Convention on their head and, in fact, Ms Ruane's "simple" solution would not only be inherently unfair but would in reality require us to resile from the Geneva Convention.
Ms Ruane might care to reflect on how the unilateral and unique refection by Ireland of the Geneva Convention might be viewed as "keeping the international respect earned for it". Ms Ruane is evidently standing at the crossroads between Utopia and Paradise Lost! - Yours, etc., Tony Cotter,
Press & Information Officer, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.