Safetynet's Healthcare Recommendations Adopted in Full by Oireachtas Justice Committee
As the only healthcare provider to contribute to the International Protection Bill scrutiny, all of our evidence-based recommendations have been included in the Committee's final report
1 December 2025 | Dublin
Safetynet Primary Care is pleased to announce that all our healthcare recommendations have been adopted by the Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration in their pre-legislative scrutiny report on the International Protection Bill 2025, published today.
As the only healthcare provider among the thirteen stakeholders who contributed to this landmark legislation, Safetynet brought a unique clinical perspective to the scrutiny process. Our recommendations, grounded in frontline experience delivering health screening and medical assessments to international protection applicants nationwide, have been fully reflected in the Committee's final recommendations.
Our Contribution: Clinical Voice in Policy
CEO Nicola Perry and Medical Director Dr Angela Skuce appeared before the Committee on 21 October 2025, presenting evidence drawn from our daily clinical practice. Our submission and oral testimony highlighted four critical healthcare gaps in the proposed legislation, supported by case studies demonstrating the real-world impact of policy decisions on vulnerable patients.
The Committee's report dedicates a whole section to Access to Healthcare, with Safetynet's evidence featuring prominently. Notably, the report states that healthcare organisations such as Safetynet should be explicitly guaranteed access to both detention centres and accommodation facilities—a significant recognition of the essential role we play in protecting the health of this vulnerable population. We look forward to Minister Jim O’Callaghan’s response and to working with the Department during bill drafting.
All Healthcare Recommendations Adopted
The Committee adopted all of Safetynet's key recommendations:
1. Medical Consent Framework
Our recommendation: Amend Head 18(5) to require informed consent before sharing medical information with authorities.
Committee Recommendation 18: "The Committee recommends that Head 18 be amended to provide a requirement for informed consent before sharing medical information with authorities, except where required under existing public health legislation, or if necessary for immediate medical emergencies."
2. Healthcare Access After Deportation Orders
Our recommendation: Create a provision guaranteeing continued access to healthcare for individuals subject to deportation orders, at a minimum, for life-sustaining medications, communicable diseases, emergency care, and maternity care.
Committee Recommendation 20: "The Committee recommends that the General Scheme contains a provision ensuring that applicants, including those subject to return, can access medical services and treatments at all stages of the procedure, and that life-sustaining medications, emergency care, maternity care and healthcare for communicable diseases be guaranteed."
3. Accommodation Transfers and Medical Continuity
Our recommendation: Prohibit short-notice transfers for people with significant ongoing medical needs; require a minimum of 14 days' notice; create formal mechanisms for accommodation staff to raise medical concerns; ensure medical records and care coordination before transfers occur.
Committee Recommendation 24: Adopted word-for-word, including all four specific measures we proposed.
4. Medico-Legal Assessment Capacity
Our recommendation: Significantly increase funding to organisations like Spirasi or establish a state-funded medico-legal assessment service.
Committee Recommendation 25: "The Committee recommends that the General Scheme provides for the establishment of a State-funded medico-legal assessment service with dedicated practitioners trained in the Istanbul Protocol methodology, ensuring nationwide availability, with the target of ensuring medico-legal reports are available within four to six weeks of request."
5. Technical Amendments
Our technical recommendations were also adopted, including changing "access" to "timely and meaningful access" in Head 18(3) (Recommendation 17) and ensuring provision for "essential medical care" alongside acute care (Recommendation 15).
Safetynet Named in Committee Recommendations
In a significant acknowledgement of our role, the Committee specifically named Safetynet Primary Care in two recommendations:
Recommendation 59 calls for detention centres to "allow access to organisations such as Safetynet Primary Care who can provide culturally appropriate and trauma-informed services."
Recommendation 62 recommends that "detention facilities and accommodation facilities are adequately resourced and are located in an area that ensures access to healthcare and health promotion by organisations such as Safetynet Primary Care."
A Voice for Our Patients
"This outcome demonstrates the power of evidence-based advocacy grounded in frontline clinical experience. Every recommendation we made was informed by the patients we see daily—people whose health outcomes depend on getting this legislation right. We are grateful to the Committee for their careful consideration of healthcare needs in this complex legislation."
— Nicola Perry, CEO, Safetynet Primary Care
The full report is available here
About Safetynet Primary Care
Safetynet Primary Care is a values-driven charity delivering high-quality primary healthcare to marginalised and socially excluded populations in Ireland. The organisation serves people who face significant barriers to accessing mainstream healthcare, including those experiencing homelessness, international protection applicants, refugees, and individuals affected by substance misuse or traumatic migration.
As part of the services we provide, we offer health screening and medical assessments to international protection applicants nationwide through our Mobile Health and Screening Unit (MHSU). In 2024, we screened over 1,300 international protection applicants, visited 28 accommodation centres, completed over 600 TB screenings, and delivered 3,772 GP consultations for this population. We operate five weekly GP clinics at the National Transit Centre in Citywest and maintain Ireland's only shared medical record network for vulnerable populations.