The Chief Executive of the Irish Refugee Council has resigned from a Government-appointed group examining the direct provision system for asylum seekers.
Sue Conlan's decision comes directly in response to the publication this week by Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald of the heads of the International Protection Bill aimed at simplifying the asylum process.
In her resignation letter, she said it was regrettable that the Working Group was not allowed "have sight of and indeed comment upon" the heads of the bill.
Ms Conlan said her sense of the bill is that it is too much of an "enforcement measure".
She also said that any attempt by the Working Group to "propose change which involves legislation, such as putting accommodation and support in a bill or changing legislation to extend the role of the Ombudsman or Children's Ombudsman has been resisted by the Department of Justice".
