DUBLIN, Ireland: Irish opposition parties claim that the government's proposed amendment to a controversial section of the immigration Bill could prevent people with Down's syndrome or autism from entering Ireland.

Amendments to the Bill, which is due to pass all stages in the Dáil (Parliament) on February 4, define those to be refused entry as suffering from "profound mental disturbance" showing signs of psychotic disturbance.

The new law was made necessary by a High Court decision which struck down the existing Ministerial Orders controlling immigration, because they were not brought in through primary legislation.

The first draft produced by Michael McDowell, the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, allowed immigration officers to refuse entry to people suffering from a disability, but this was amended in the Seanad to a definition of mental disorder contained in the Mental Health Act.

However, an Independent Senator, Joe O'Toole, claimed that this could include people with Down's syndrome or autism.

The latest proposed amendment, due to be debated in the Dáil on February 4, defines the reasons for exclusion even more narrowly. It also allows immigration officers to refuse entry to people suffering from tuberculosis, syphilis, drug addiction and other infectious or contagious parasitic diseases which are being prevented from spreading from abroad.

(Source: RTÉ, February 4, 2004)