Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The story of Ireland is a story of migration. Irish people have been forced to move to every corner of the world during periods of famine, hunger, conflict and poverty. Countries have been made richer because of the positive contribution that Irish emigrants, their children and grandchildren have made. Today our migration story has evolved. Thousands of our young people leave Ireland and continue to enrich other parts of the world with their work ethic, positive disposition and sheer grit. Too many of those who leave do so not because they want to but because they feel forced to, primarily due to the housing crisis. The export of our young people has been and remains the constant component of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments over the past 100 years.

Over the past couple of decades, of course, we have also seen growing levels of inward migration. Just as other countries have been enriched by Irish emigration to those parts, we too can be and have been enriched by the contribution of those who have come to Ireland. For that to continue, we need a migration system that is well managed and seen to be fair, effective and enforced.

That is Sinn Féin's objective - not open borders as some try to portray. The problem is the Government's approach is not seen as well managed, fair, efficient or effective. That is particularly the case with international protection emergency accommodation. If the Government was purposely setting out to antagonise local communities, it could not have done a better job. Communities wake up to find that their local hotel, pub, nursing home or other business has been turned into emergency accommodation. There is no discussion, engagement or appraisal whatsoever as to the impact on a community of losing out on that business. There is no interaction with schools, GPs or other service providers. The only consideration is the availability of a building and that is unfair on those who are to be accommodated and it is unfair on local communities. The only winners are those private operators who are making huge sums. It contains all the ingredients for the anger and frustration we have seen in our communities.

The system is broken. It is failing those seeking asylum and it is failing local communities who have already been failed by Government mismanagement of housing, health and other public services. Mismanagement of international protection can be added to the list. The Government signed up to the temporary protection directive in respect of Ukraine and has become an outlier in the conditions offered. It suggested at one point that we may have up to 200,000 arrivals from Ukraine but of course there was no plan to deal with this, as Sinn Féin had called for, and no consideration as to the capacity issues that were evident at that time. Those temporary measures expire next year and the Government must plan, and in a way it did not previously, and signal that our immigration laws and an overhaul of the international protection system will apply across the board.

The Government still has not sorted out the international protection process. If people come to Ireland seeking asylum they deserve that their application be processed quickly. There are no excuses for it to still take years. If people are entitled to asylum, they should be quickly given the supports necessary to enter the workforce and help enrich our country, as the Irish have done elsewhere. If they are not entitled to asylum, they leave and the Government must make sure they leave because the Government has failed and the system is broken. It must be fixed so that we can write a new chapter in our migration story; one where our young people can live, work, and afford a house in Ireland if that is their wish, and one where we are enriched by an immigration and asylum system that works for those who move here, for all of our communities and for every part of our diverse society.

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