Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 18, lines 33 to 44, to delete all words from and including "and" in line 33, down to and including "2006)—" in line 44, to delete page 19 and in page 20, to delete lines 1 to 12 and substitute the following:

"and is an Irish citizen, a non-national who is lawfully present in the State and is likely to remain lawfully in the State for the duration of the course in question, or such other person as may be prescribed by the Minister.".

This is attempting to try and cover the same area. There are people who have been in this country for a period of time, we have accepted them into our economy and I believe we need to accept them into our society. We are looking at countries that previously had a very tolerant position as regards inclusion and acceptance of immigrants, for example, the Netherlands and Denmark, with which I have some contact, and I believe I know enough about the Minister's predisposition in this regard as well. When there was a difficulty with such people who came as guest workers or added themselves to the workforce, if they had families with them often they or their children were subsequently thrown on the scrap heap because of popular resentment. All the reports in regard to immigration and tolerance are warning signs for Ireland to the effect that unless we accept people not just into the economy, but into our society, and treat them as equals, we are potentially fanning the flames of racial discrimination, and as we see in the Netherlands, run the risk of fomenting a right-wing lurch.

The amendment is an attempt to address that, while the numbers involved will be relatively small. However, I believe that those who have come here and made commitments in Ireland should be protected, in the same way that Irish people went to other countries and benefited from inclusion. I believe we should be doing this in Ireland and that is the motivation behind the amendment.

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