Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not have any questions, but wish to make my own brief input. I declare an interest at the outset. The last time I met Ms Ní Chonaill she was wearing a sandwich board outside the gates of Dáil Éireann and holding a placard about something I had allegedly said or done. I cannot recall what it was about.

I do not agree with anything our two guests have said. That they are so much out of touch with Irish society and Irish thinking is beyond me. I cannot put into words how far removed they are from any normal thinking in society. Following on from discussions I had with the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland and its presentation here today, I launched a Bill which is in the lottery for a Friday sitting. It is an earned regularisation Bill for undocumented people in Ireland, for which I think there is broad agreement across all the parties in respect of its principles, although there may be differences in regard to the minutiae of how it would be rolled out. If we were to regularise undocumented people in Ireland, that would be hugely beneficial. Many of them have put down roots here. The vast majority, up to 90%, contribute positively to society. It is a fact that two-thirds of them are working in the shadow economy. Regularising their position would prevent some employers from preying on them as vulnerable people and using them to suppress official wages. For all the reasons stated by the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, it all points to a positive. An alternative is to engage in mass deportations - that is not an option. The other alternative is to do nothing, but that is not an option either. It is an issue we should face up to. It is not fair to say it is an amnesty. It is not credible for people to come in here and make a presentation saying they do not have a view on the parallel situation that exists with the undocumented Irish in the US while saying they can present with credibility about the undocumented here.