Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. I agree with Mr. Herrick when he spoke about ambiguity, incompleteness and lack of clarity. That seems to be the common theme of the speakers. We do not know what we are signing up for. I believe we need an international protection system that is enforced, effective and not rushed, as is happening today. I have significant concerns about the capacity of the system to meet the requirements of this Bill, but I also believe that the EU migration pact undermines Irish sovereignty. Sinn Féin has been very open about opposing this pact and will continue to oppose it because it undermines Irish sovereignty. We are handing over more powers to the EU, which impedes our ability to make decisions for ourselves, such as on migration.

We have signed up to the migration pact. Is there anything in this legislation that we would have been able to do without signing up to the pact? Under the legislation that is currently in place, is there anything we would not have been able to do?