  The similarity between observed velocity structures of Al III and singly
ionised species in damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) suggests the presence of
ionised gas in the regions where most metal absorption lines are formed.
  To explore the possible implications of ionisation effects we construct a
simplified two-region model for DLAs consisting of an ionisation bounded region
with an internal radiation field and a neutral region with a lower metal
content. Within this framework we find that ionisation effects are important.
If taken into account, the element abundance ratios in DLAs are quite
consistent with those observed in Milky Way stars and in metal-poor H II
regions in blue compact dwarf galaxies. In particular we cannot exclude the
same primary N origin in both DLAs and metal-poor galaxies. From our models no
dust depletion of heavy elements needs to be invoked; little depletion is
however not excluded.
