Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The recent debate on immigration has been dominated by disinformation. That is regrettable because it is essential we stick to the facts. Because when we talk about immigration, we are talking about people - people who are seeking refuge here in a country that is a welcoming country. Disinformation is making this country less safe for everyone. Communities are suffering because of far-right activity and because of a rise in racism. We all condemn that.

However, the Taoiseach needs to get a handle on this because his Government’s immigration policy has failed. The clearest evidence of that failure is just around the corner with hundreds of people sleeping in tents and makeshift shelters in desperately unsanitary conditions on Mount Street. I was there again this morning, meeting some of those people and also speaking with local residents and traders who are sympathetic to the plight of those in tents, but also deeply frustrated at the deteriorating situation, with more and more tents each day, no access to sanitation and no sign of any action from Government. It is inhumane and unsustainable. The Government has no accommodation strategy, even while big public buildings like Baggot Street Hospital sit scandalously idle nearby. The Government is not even on top of the situation when it comes to reliable data on immigration. The Minister for Justice has been unable to give accurate figures on migration. It is extraordinary to rely apparently on anecdote when we see so much disinformation circulating and when we see cynical attempts to turn a delicate situation into an election issue.

There is a clear need for EU states to act in concert on this but the migration pact announced by the European People's Party, EPP, the European grouping of the Taoiseach's party, is incapable of addressing the underlying causes of migration into Europe and it has glaring deficiencies on human rights. The Taoiseach’s predecessor refuted the allegation that this amounted to a European Rwanda scheme. But, now, it seems the Taoiseach is not just looking to introduce something like the Rwanda scheme but rather to enforce the Rwanda scheme itself.

We just spoke about how last month saw a High Court decision that Ireland cannot designate Britain as a safe third country for the purpose of returning people seeking asylum. The Taoiseach may have secured approval today at Cabinet to introduce emergency legislation to redesignate Britain as a safe third country but there are two serious issues relating to that proposal. First, under section 21 of the International Protection Act 2015, a safe third country is only safe for a particular applicant if that country is willing to readmit them.

We cannot force Britain or any other country for that matter to take back applicants whom we turn away. We have heard about an operational agreement but we need clarity on what that is and what obligation it places on Britain.

In that High Court case, it was argued that the Rwanda policy would make it impossible to designate the UK as a safe third country. The court did not have to deal with that argument because it was then hypothetical but since then, most regrettably, that policy has become the law in Britain. Deputy Ó Ríordáin and I, together with Westminster British Labour MP Stella Creasy, have for months been raising concerns about the Rwanda Bill and its undermining of the Good Friday Agreement's requirement for equivalence of human rights protections north and south of the Border. The Government should have listened to us then. If the Rwanda policy is fundamentally incompatible with human rights laws, as the UN High Commissioner says, how can the Government possibly designate the UK as safe while that policy remains law in Britain?

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