Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That was an example of remarkable co-operation.

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to make a short contribution to this debate in the context of the challenging discussions and arguments we have in this House regarding migration. As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I think we should keep in mind just how important inward migration is for Ireland's economy. Two out of every five doctors in Ireland were not born here and 50% of nurses in Irish hospitals were not born here. We have half a million people working in the Irish economy, paying taxes, contributing significantly to economic growth and innovation and business growth who were not born in Ireland. Every year, we facilitate inward migration that allows an economy to keep growing, expanding and providing career opportunities for many Irish people. Let us not forget that we have almost full employment in Ireland today. With business growth and the capacity challenges that come with that in terms of human resources, we need to continue to facilitate bringing skills from other parts of the world. We need to welcome that and reassure those people that they are welcome here. The scenes of intimidation and violence we saw before Christmas need a really strong response from this House in terms of the message we send to non-Irish nationals working here and who are very much a part of our cities, towns and economy.

Last year, we had approximately 38,000 applications for work permits, of which we granted 31,000. Around half of those were people coming to Ireland for the first time while the other half were renewals. This gives a sense of the volume and the positive impact they are still having. There are many businesses in Ireland today that simply would not be able to compete as multinationals or indeed growing and expanding Irish businesses without that skill set being here. These people make an extraordinary and positive contribution to Ireland's relationship with other parts of the world. In many ways they open doors to new business and new markets as well.

International protection is a very different form of inward migration. Some of the people who come here, we invite and facilitate through resettlement programmes but they are, in relative terms, small numbers. The majority of people who come here seeking international protection arrive in Ireland and we then need to pursue an asylum application process with them. In the case of Ukrainians coming to Ireland - and about 104,000 of them have done so over the last two years - we effectively treat them as EU citizens while they are here, with the exception of accommodation. This has been an extraordinary pressure point for the Government.

We hear criticisms from the other side of the House and it is the Opposition's job to be critical and constructive in that criticism where possible, and I respect that. However, when we look back on this period in a few years' time, Ireland will be seen to have done an extraordinary job in accommodating enormous numbers of people in a very short space of time. Many Irish homes and families have opened their doors to support people fleeing extraordinary suffering and conflict. We should not lose sight of that. Even though we are making adjustments to the financial support we give to Ukrainian families while they are here, for understandable and necessary reasons given the policy changes that have been made in other European countries as well, we need to continue to be as supportive and as generous as we can be until this war ends.

In respect of those who come here to seek international protection through airports or ports and through Northern Ireland and the UK, we need to tighten up our system. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is doing just that. We need to be generous and consistent with international law and our international obligations but we also need to differentiate between people who are genuinely fleeing conflict and economic migrants. The Government is consistently investing in the human resources we need and, where necessary, the policy change we need to ensure we can support people who need it and ensure that we can differentiate more quickly between those people and others who are coming to Ireland and claiming asylum but who are, in fact, economic migrants, and take appropriate action. That is exactly what the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is doing. It is also what she is doing with regard to named safe countries to allow us to fast-track appropriately the process in the case of those countries.

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