Ms Edel McGinley:

The State operates a managed migration system, and there are obviously considerations within that. I will not make the arguments for why managed migration is a good or bad thing. Until this becomes a political issue and there is political will behind it, the people who are there to develop and implement policies would be reticent to do so until they are directed by the Minister to do it. The only way they can be directed is if there is political will behind it. This is part of it. If this committee supports the regularisation, it would naturally mean that the civil servants must come up with a solution and move. Their role is to develop and implement an immigration system, unless they are told or directed otherwise. It is part of a managed migration system. In any managed migration system, all countries must do a regularisation. There are different types of regularisation in the lifetime of their immigration history. Some have to do more, because they do not get it right and they are bigger countries. America must do a major one and, as we said, there are 40 different ones across the European Union. The civil servants will react and respond to political will.