Mr. Pablo Rojas Coppari:

Yes. I want to take members through the recent developments that led to our making a presentation today. As my colleague, Ms McGinley, mentioned, we have been in front of the Committee on Justice and Equality on two occasions addressing the issue of undocumented migrants, including children. We made a presentation to the previous justice committee a year ago. Its Chairman is now the Minister of State with responsibility for immigration, Deputy David Stanton. The committee's report following our presentation in November 2015 recommended the introduction a regularisation scheme for undocumented migrants and children. It was a reasonable and strong recommendation. The committee wrote to the Minister for Justice and Equality in this regard seeking a response. That was in November 2015. In a presentation to the Committee on Justice and Equality two weeks ago, the Chairman and members felt strongly that a solution must be found for undocumented migrants, including children, in this context.

When the Dáil rose in February, there was cross-party support for the introduction of a regularisation scheme, as recommended by the justice committee and the human rights committee. That was followed in February 2016 by the recommendation made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. In reviewing Ireland's progress on realising its international commitments under the UN convention, the committee concluded that all children are entitled to full protection and the implementation of their rights under the convention irrespective of their parents' legal status. It recommended that Ireland expeditiously adopt a comprehensive legal immigration framework in accordance with international legal standards and ensure it provided formal procedures for conferring immigration status on children and their families who are in an irregular migration situation.

In July 2016, Migrant Rights Centre Ireland and the young people's empowerment group met members of the advisory council of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to discuss the issues facing children and young people in Ireland and the policy solution of introducing regularisation. A request for a meeting has been sent to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, to discuss the issue. We are awaiting a response on the matter.

Let me highlight two actions taken since July. In September 2016, as members are familiar, the United Nations held a migrant and refugee summit in which one of the core points was on addressing the needs of children in migration. The outcome of the summit is what is called the New York declaration. There was heavy input by the Irish Government through its representation in New York. There was a commitment to address the needs of migrant children and refugees. That commitment has been followed by Commissioner Jourová in the European Commission. Yesterday, the European Commission held what is called the European Forum on the Rights of the Child, one of the priorities of which involved addressing the circumstances of migrant children and the adoption of an EU action plan on children in migration. One of the outcomes of both the New York declaration and the EU forum was on the adoption of immigration systems that have the best interest of the child at their core. As my colleague said, Ireland does not have an immigration system that has the best interest of the child at its core. The issue we are hearing about today, that of undocumented children and young people, is the consequence.

I have submitted documentation on the proposal that Migrant Rights Centre Ireland has put to the Committee on Justice and Equality to address the circumstances of undocumented migrants, including children. We believe these are the minimum standards that must be implemented to address the issue of undocumented migrants, including children, and to meet our commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the recommendations to implement a regularisation scheme for undocumented children and their families. As such, I will not go into the details of the proposal but I will be happy to take questions afterwards.

Let me conclude by outlining our recommendations for this committee. We urge the committee to consider the implications of irregular status on the realisation of commitments made by the State under the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures national policy framework, particularly in so far as it relates to two commitments. Commitment No. 2.22 commits the State to strengthening social inclusion measures and reinvigorating efforts to improve educational outcomes among, and the integration of, migrant children. Commitment 3.7 is to introduce and enact an immigration, residence and protection Bill to address comprehensively the interaction of migrant children with the immigration system and introduce a children-centred immigration policy.

Our main recommendation for today is that this committee urge the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, and the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, to introduce a regularisation scheme that will address the recommendation from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and offer a pragmatic solution to undocumented families and children living in Ireland.