Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Our young people live in a multicultural and multi-racial society and are not racist. By playing the card of this referendum without proper consultation or procedure, the Minister has chosen a political stroke to deal with something which is problematic and a delicate social issue. When I worked in the Department of Justice, I was told a story by an old staff member, now probably long retired. This person said that in the 1930s Jews did not come to Ireland because if a Jewish person seeking refuge was educated, he or she might take an Irish job, and if a Jewish person seeking refuge was uneducated, he or she might constitute a burden on the Irish State, therefore, we took almost no one. Our then ambassador in Berlin, Charles Bewley, was a supporter of Hitler. These issues are delicate and very difficult. I have dealt with them down through the years and I have worked in Africa and lived in multicultural societies. No one said this would be easy.

I do not think the Minister is racist and I hope no one in this House is racist. However, he is stirring the pot, which is beneath him and beneath the traditions of Fianna Fáil. Unfortunately, it will find a response, because some people will use it as an excuse for the chaos in our medical system and the lengthy housing waiting lists. The Minister who lives in the south side visited the north side last Monday to talk about policing issues. People lock their doors at 8.30 p.m. because there are no gardaí on the streets. This society is beset by both riches and an incredible array of social problems. It is very convenient to say the chaos in the maternity hospitals is not the result of an increase of 400,000 in the population, most of whom are returned Irish emigrants, but the result of a couple of hundred non-nationals giving birth in our hospitals.

The Minister is wrong to stir the pot on these issues. He is a well read man who should know his history and not stir the pot in regard to delicate social issues. He should not suggest that this kind of tricking around with the Constitution will solve the lack of maternity services or why women are sent home from hospital a day or two after giving birth when in the past they were able to stay in the Rotunda for approximately five days after giving birth. There will be a suggestion that the shortage of houses and the number of people on the housing list is caused by this group of people. This is like letting the genie out of the bottle. I do not think the Minister is racist but some over-enthusiastic local election candidates are already intimating a particular message on the doorsteps. It has been done in other elections. It is soft, low, does not get as far as a leaflet and is just whispered on the doorsteps — they are the problem. It is suggested that if we control the problem we will get back to no poverty, houses for everyone and a medical service of which we may once again be proud.

The Minister always talks about being a realist in politics. The chaos in our health services and maternity hospitals concerns resources and management. It is not about a few hundred babies of African origin born in our hospitals. The Minister should not make them scapegoats for the failure of public policy on the health service, despite throwing money at it. I would think more highly of the Minister if he could address the debate in a rounded way rather than as a cute political stroke.

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