Results 1-20 of 29 for immigration segment:2724010

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Leo Varadkar: ...an emigrant nation having contributed to populations around the world from the United States to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and so on. Ireland is, and always has been, a country of immigrants be they Celts, Normans, Vikings or English people. There is no aboriginal, normal, ethnic-Irish race. Migration has been and will continue to be the natural course of human...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Denis Naughten: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. It is very welcome legislation that gives us the opportunity to deal with many of the issues we are now facing in the area of immigration. The recent growth in the rate of immigration in Ireland is resulting in what is, arguably, the greatest economic and social transformation in our country since independence. Immigration and immigration...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Noel O'Flynn: I am delighted to speak on this important legislation for a modern Ireland that is experiencing extraordinary changes. Only 20 years ago nobody would have believed we would debate immigration in this House as at that time emigration was the subject of much concerned debate. We all remember the 1980s when so many young people left for the United States of America, the UK, Australia and other...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Finian McGrath: We must end such hypocrisy. I will always support the Irish in America, but I will also support and assist immigrants in our country even when it may not be popular politically. Let us be honest. We all get regular requests from immigrants and asylum seekers at our offices and clinics. This type of work has been going on for years. We are not looking for gold medals as Members of the...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Finian McGrath: I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity of speaking on this important legislation, the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008. Before I go into the details of the Bill I must mention the importance of having a wide-ranging debate on immigration and listening to all views on this important issue. To those who say that politicians never discuss this issue, I say get real. We...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: ...of the intervening period there has been confusion in the public mind between asylum seekers and those who should, more realistically, be described as economic migrants. The State has not had an immigration policy. It is of course true that some of those seeking asylum have no real prospect of being granted it but, so far, there has not been any other more appropriate system in place by...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Ciarán Cuffe: ...for such events shows us all that we are the richer for this cultural, economic and social mixing. I am aware of the very detailed submissions that have been made by many groups, particularly the immigration NGOs, who held a press conference yesterday to highlight their concerns about the Bill. Last night, the Dún Laoghaire Refugee Project made available to me a list of concerns they...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Martin Mansergh: ..., and his Department on the very substantial work that has gone into it. I also welcome and recognise the good work being done by the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, on the integration of immigrants. No doubt the Bill can be further refined in the course of its passage through the Oireachtas. It certainly deserves to be fully debated at every Stage. The immigration of the past...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Terence Flanagan: Measures must be put in place to prevent abuses of certain rights under immigration legislation. Such mechanisms are in place in the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in respect of applications for residency in Ireland based on marriage to an EU or Irish citizen. Legislative rights and protective measures can operate side by side without the unnecessarily intrusive measure of...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Noel O'Flynn: ...in this Bill for long-term residents recognises this and will allow such people and their families to stay and put down permanent roots. The new status for long-term residents will give qualifying immigrants access to State-funded services and other entitlements. At the moment immigrants must apply for a visa every year and can only apply for naturalisation after a certain length of time...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Pat Rabbitte: Immigration for most of the 20th century was not a major issue for Ireland. Through the decades when this country was a failed economic entity, the preoccupation was with emigration. Fifty years ago, between 1956 and 1961, net emigration represented a loss of 212,003 persons, significantly more than the entire population of Limerick. Even as recently as 1986 to 1991, we lost 134,170 people...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Ciarán Cuffe: ...in detail on the Bill's content. There is a pressing need to modernise legislation in this area and a clear imperative to engage with the many organisations working at the coal face with recent immigrants to our shores. I was interested in Deputy Rabbitte's comments on the need for a clear policy statement. The previous Bill published in May 2007 allowed for the Minister to lay out a...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Leo Varadkar: ...entitled to a higher education grant. Aside from the injustice, the absurdity of it is difficult to understand. Can that be addressed in the Bill? I have had experience of a particular group of immigrants who have come here as nurses to work in accident and emergency departments or as midwives to work in, say, the National Maternity Hospital and people who have come to work in...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Leo Varadkar: On what basis must immigrants produce the card on demand?

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Leo Varadkar: Is there nothing in this Bill that requires a garda or immigration official to have some basis for requesting the presentation of that identification card? Can they demand a card of a person they think looks a bit foreign?

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Terence Flanagan: ...dramatically in the past ten years. Our great economic success has resulted in citizens no longer emigrating in the same numbers as they once did and our country having to deal with thousands of immigrants for the first time. Immigration has been of great benefit to Ireland, but migrants and their family members have a right to be treated fairly in legislation and in practice. I welcome...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Noel O'Flynn: ...Irish citizen may not bring his partner and child into the country. Although it is legally possible for the child to enter the country, obviously children do not travel without a parent. European immigration has been highly successful and many people from the new EU accession states have made a significant contribution to society. We have all benefited from their contribution to our...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: ...processes in many other EU states. Under the Bill, the functions currently carried out by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner will be subsumed into the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, an administrative body within my Department. The present statutory provisions allowing access to information about cases by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees...

Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2008)

Denis Naughten: ...process, disappear from accommodation centres and are trafficked into the sex industry in other countries of the EU. Another fundamental weakness is the provision in the legislation allowing the immigration officer to decide which adult will take responsibility for unaccompanied children. This area must be examined. The current policy of handing over children to an organisation that has...