Madam, - The Irish Refugee Council welcomes the recent report that the HSE's proposed new intercultural health strategy will include a national interpretation service, with trained and accredited interpreters.
We hope this precedent will be followed in the asylum system, where the lives and futures of people fleeing persecution, torture and violence may depend on accurate interpretation at their hearing.
The forthcoming Immigration, Residency and Protection Bill, which will include proposals to overhaul the entire asylum process, is an opportunity to review the interpretation services. A fair asylum system requires a reliable and accredited interpretation service at all stages from initial questioning upon making an asylum claim (whether inland or at a port of entry), to the receipt of legal advice, to interviews at the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, to appeals at the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, to the removal process - or indeed at any point when an asylum-seeker comes into contact with the State. - Yours, etc,
ROBIN HANAN, CEO, MAUREEN KIRKPATRICK, Legal Officer, Irish Refugee Council, Capel Street, Dublin 1.