President Higgins calls Council of State over asylum bill

President Michael D Higgins has waded into an ongoing controversy surrounding the International Protection Bill by calling a meeting of the Council of State to consider key provisions of the legislation.

Mr Higgins, calling the seven-person advisory Council of State for only the second time, will ask it to consider whether three sections of the asylum legislation are repugnant to the Constitution.

These are the definitions of the family under sections 56 and 57, the rights of children to have refugee status, and deportation order rules under section 78.

The legislation has already been heavily criticised by NGOs including the Irish Refugee Council and Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre.

A row over the guillotining of the legislation led to TD Michael McNamara being ejected from the Dáil last week.

The Council of State will meet on Tuesday 29 December to consider the bill.