It is three years since the previous Government set up a working group to report on the asylum process and how we could fix and change it. It is almost two and a half years since Mr. Justice Bryan McMahon came back with a series of recommendations, including one to the effect that we should allow asylum seekers who have been in the process without a decision for nine months to work. It is four months since the Supreme Court gave the Government a six-month window to rectify that matter.

However, there is nothing in the legislative programme. How and when does the Taoiseach intend to provide justice for asylum seekers who the Supreme Court recognised are being treated unconstitutionally? Our current system is killing them with boredom and mental health problems. How does the Taoiseach intend to rectify that in the next two months? What must we do to legislate for it and why is it not in the programme before us?

The Minister for Justice and Equality and I spoke about this today. I am aware of the court judgment and it is the view of the Government that if somebody is waiting for a prolonged period of time for a decision as to whether he or she has the right to remain, he or she should be allowed to have the opportunity to work. These are people who wish to get up early in the morning to go to work and we currently do not allow them to do so under our laws. The reason it does not appear in the legislative programme is that we think we can resolve it without using primary legislation, but the Minister for Justice and Equality should be in a position to respond to the court's judgment in a matter of weeks.