Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Business of Joint Committee
2:00 am
Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for an informative presentation. I got a lot out of it. I wish him the best going ahead. I stress that Gaza is the most immediate priority. It is great to see work going on there. We have spoken about the diaspora, which is so important, especially those, as Deputy Ó Súilleabháin said, who would like to come home. There was mention of running events and getting people home. Looking at the larger picture, when you are travelling so far away, it is not for this day, but we have an immigration problem. When I am in Sri Lanka, going to get my visa updated, I see thousands upon thousands of people queueing in 38°C heat to get their visa to come here or to Europe. They do not want to come here. At the airport, you see young kids saying goodbye to their fathers and mothers and being left with their grannies, who should not be getting on a plane. If we could take the billions that are being spent on IPAS centres, hotels and whatever, spend those billions at source, build Irish factories and help them at source, I feel we would tick so many boxes.