Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. A number of speakers have mentioned that Ireland is an emigrant nation having contributed to populations around the world from the United States to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and so on. Ireland is, and always has been, a country of immigrants be they Celts, Normans, Vikings or English people. There is no aboriginal, normal, ethnic-Irish race. Migration has been and will continue to be the natural course of human settlement. People will continue to move from different parts of the world for various different reasons.

To a certain extent, I speak with a degree of personal experience in respect of this debate. I represent the constituency of Dublin West, the population of which is made up of approximately 25% immigrants and foreign nationals. Like Deputy Cuffe, I, too, am a product of immigration, my parents having met as immigrants in the United Kingdom. My father is from India and my mother is from Ireland. Both emigrated to the UK where they met and subsequently married and lived for many years. I am aware that other Members also have an immigrant background, including Senator Norris, who was born in the Congo. He is technically an immigrant to this State as was Eamon de Valera, the founder of the party opposite. Reference was made earlier to Senator Obama and his links to County Offaly. We should also remember that Senator McCain has links to County Donegal. It is not unusual to have connections to immigration in this regard.

Deputy Mansergh correctly noted that wealthy countries become the focus of immigrants. It can equally be argued that migration also makes countries wealthy. Among the most successful countries in the world, economically, are the United States, France and Britain. These countries have benefited enormously from migration. It is important to note the synergistic relationship that exists between migration and wealth creation and the subsequent encouragement to migrate to a country.

Like Deputy Higgins, I have had the experience of dealing with a large number of queries from migrants. In my role as a doctor, I also provide medical services to a reception centre once a week. In this regard, I am aware of both sides of the asylum debate. I have met people who have had a hard time and are deserving of our protection and other people whom I did not believe existed, namely, people in designer clothes with blackberries and English accents claiming to be asylum seekers from Somalia. I have heard some comments in the past which I considered to be racist but my experience has helped me to understand from where they arise.

It is important to acknowledge that despite the benefits of immigration, the quick influx of immigrants into this State has led to difficulties particularly in the school and criminal justice systems and in the integration of communities. However, it is important immigrants are not blamed for this. A lack of proper immigration policy from Government and proper organisation of our education and criminal justice systems has created these problems. It is important that where people are looking to attribute blame they blame the right people, namely, not the immigrants but the Government whose responsibility it is to organise these affairs.

I am happy to welcome the Bill which provides for restrictions on illegal trafficking of adults. The creation of a single procedure is necessary and valuable given the situation which prevailed for a long time whereby people were claiming asylum and being denied it and then claiming the right to remain and being denied it and so on. I also accept we need stronger powers for deportation given that deportation orders in the vast majority of cases cannot be enforced.

I welcome the inclusion of a list of safe countries. This will ensure it is easier on a prima facie basis to make provisions at an early stage to separate claims likely to be valid from those not likely to be valid. I have some concerns about the Bill though I accept I may have misunderstood it. My concern relates to the ID card system. I may be wrong but it appears provision is made in the Bill that all immigrants be required to carry an ID card with biometric data on it. It is not clear, however, whether it is possible to require immigrants to carry the ID card at all times. I have grave difficulty with this provision if this is the case. It is a draconian measure which essentially criminalises legal immigrants. This is no way to treat foreign doctors, midwives and so on who are of enormous benefit to this country. I also query on what basis an official of the law would ask an immigrant to present such an ID card. It has been explained to me in the past that an official may be able to enter a restaurant kitchen and ask people to produce cards so they can establish who should or should not be there. If so, this power is potentially wide open to abuse. I would not like to legislate that any official of Government or member of the Garda Síochána could request an individual to prove their identity on the spot. Perhaps I misunderstood the provision.

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