Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We can all point to utterances by various spokespersons over the past five years, in particular, in respect of which there have been, to my mind at least, serious breaches of legislation on incitement to hatred and racism where effective legislation exists, either in individual member states or in European institutions. There is not much sense in having the European institutions stipulate, consequent to their having overall responsibility, that one cannot do this or that and that one must observe such a law, according to the letter or spirit, if breaches continue regardless.

I fully recognise that the Union cannot be a home for all refugees and immigrants from all over the world. We must have European legislation, and we have. Whether this is effective or does its job to the extent intended remains to be seen. If it does not do so, it should be amended. Once immigrants — and Irish emigrants — arrive in a member state of the European Union, they are entitled to be treated in accordance with the laws laid down by that state and the Union. Breaches and deviations in this regard are not acceptable, and no exceptions should be made. It is utter hypocrisy for the European institutions and member states to avoid dealing with these circumstances fairly regularly when there are clear indications of racist tendencies. People become very popular on the back of those tendencies, as expressed in various speeches over the past five years, in particular. The rule of law will be in jeopardy in the event of European and national institutions acting inappropriately. National institutions can do so, for domestic purposes, to feed domestic electorates information they want at a particular time, but doing so is not representative of the rule of law; it is in breach of the rule of law. We need to define that quite clearly and carefully. As with the Chairman, I deal with this subject fairly regularly.