Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this legislation. I also welcome the Minister.

This is a serious issue, elements of which have reached crisis proportions right across the globe. It is having a major impact on the entire world at present. It raises serious questions about our own behaviour and activities in the context of how we deal with migrants and how the European Union does likewise.

We all have seen on television and heard on radio - some have seen in person - the large numbers of desperate people who are fleeing war, famine, poverty and inhuman conditions. They are trying to get away from circumstances where they cannot feed, clothe or education their children and are looking to what they see as the promised land, much of which is in Europe - western Europe in particular.

Of the countries that are affected at present, of course, Syria is top of the list, followed by Libya and Iraq. Then, as one moves down further into Africa, there are Mali and Eritrea. Migrants are coming in increasingly large numbers from north Africa and the Middle East. The extent of this flood of people is a new phenomenon. In many ways, it reflects the policies we have adopted over the years and the inability or unwillingness of wealthier countries to deal properly with the problems that are experienced in other parts of the world. It also reflects some of the policies that have been operated by certain countries. I refer to Iraq, Syria and Libya, and, indeed, western countries in the European Union as well as the United States, that have been involved in some of those. These policies have not improved the situation, rather they have led to it becoming worse. We must take stock of the situation and examine the problem that has led to this. We must also put in place measures to ensure that the situation cannot continue to obtain because if it does so, we simply will be unable to cope with it such is the deluge of immigration.

One can well understand why people are leaving their homes. It is not easy for anybody to leave his or her home and travel hundreds of thousands of miles to get a better home for himself or herself. We know too well how millions of our own people - in the 19th century, in the early part of the 20th century and right up to recent times - went abroad seeking a better future. Some of those who went in the 19th century did so in dire circumstances. That is the situation in the war-torn Middle East and north Africa at present.

We have been derelict in our duty in dealing with the countries adjacent to the conflicts. When I was Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for trade and development, in 2012 and 2013, I travelled to the Middle East and visited Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. This was during the early stages of the Syrian war. I witnessed the heroic efforts that were made by those countries - with precious few resources in the case of Lebanon and Jordan - to take in refugees streaming across their borders from Syria with very few resources. Irish Aid did fantastic work in providing funding, food and equipment there at a level that was disproportionate to that supplied by many other countries in the European Union and elsewhere. I particularly recall visiting a camp in Jordan and seeing the situation which obtained there. It is a camp which is now home to over 200,000 people but at that time there were only 16,000 refugees in it. Already, three countries, two of which are two of the largest member states in the European Union, had decided - off their own bat and despite requests from the Government of Jordan for the type of aid it wanted - that they would send field hospitals. Three fully-equipped field hospitals were sent - two by two prominent European countries and one by an Arab nation - and they used the opportunity to highlight the generosity of those countries. At the same time, the Jordanian authorities were telling us that they did not need any field hospitals because they had already provided one themselves and specified that they needed other types of resources, funding and equipment. Often, we can have a situation where countries will decide to donate something that they think is appropriate but that is not appropriate to the situation. The Governments and Ministers of the countries to which I refer were telling us they needed more resources and asked how they were going to educate the children coming to their country from Syria and generate employment for them, particularly as the refugees would be coming into camps. Initially, they were spread around the country and they had been received in a welcoming fashion but these countries, which lack major resources, were overwhelmed by the numbers. The next step then is, of course, that if the countries adjacent to the conflict are overwhelmed with refugees, the flow of the latter will move further afield. That is precisely what has happened. The requisite resources were not put in place as they should have been and the situation became like that which obtains in this country at present with the Shannon overflowing its banks. As a result, all of the emigrants are now heading for Europe. There has been a lack of coherence, of a serious approach and of unity on the part of the European Union in dealing with this matter. That is the context in which immigration is taking place at such a level at present. I compliment the Minister on agreeing to accept a particular number of refugees.

The Bill deals largely with the current situation but it also looks to the future as well. Certainly, it deals with the unacceptable system which obtains in Ireland and which is not fit for purpose. I refer here to the system of direct provision. The latter was presented and developed as a short-term measure but it has become a long-term one. That is unacceptable. It has been both inhumane and degrading for people to have had to live for extended periods in the circumstances in which they have been obliged to live. That is not done for the worst of reasons by the authorities. However, the process can be long and drawn out and it needs to be streamlined and fast-tracked. We need to ensure that people spend the minimum amount of time in this type of institutional detention or containment. It would be welcome if we could seriously address that issue. I am delighted the latter is a particular focus of the Bill because it means that those who have been living in direct provision for donkeys' years can now begin to live normal and fulfilling lives and their children can be properly raised and properly educated. There are approximately 4,500 people still in direct provision. The numbers have come down somewhat but they remain high. Many of those in direct provision have Irish-born children. Nevertheless, they languish in a system which is not only ineffective but which is damaging to both young people and adults.

If we can reduce the length of time it takes to deal with the matter, it would be wonderful. A previous Minister indicated that he intended to have everything resolved within six months of somebody applying for, at the very least, residency or refugee status here. We will be obliged to find a mechanism that will deal with all applications within a short period. I recognise the difficulty in doing that because so many people will arrive without proper documents. The circumstances in which migrants are being trafficked into the country - some of them having been obliged to travel long distances to get here - and the systems which obtain in certain of the countries from which they come, mean that many arrive without passports or other documentation that would help them prove their identities.

While our authorities must be careful, the process of getting back to the country of origin and determining exactly the situation there is a long, drawn-out process.

I deal with many people who have difficulty getting refugee status and naturalisation. A man I know from Zimbabwe who has a stamp 4 visa is unable to apply for naturalisation given that he is unable to get a valid passport from his country of birth. He has been waiting for 14 years and no reply is forthcoming. I have spoken repeatedly to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS. He initially received leave to remain and now has a stamp 4 visa. He was born in Zimbabwe but grew up in an orphanage in South Africa and knows little about his background in Zimbabwe. Despite his best efforts, he has been unable to get a birth certificate or passport from Zimbabwe or South Africa. He has two daughters, one born in Ireland, and has custody of both. He is frustrated at every turn. There are hard cases involving people who have been living in Ireland for many years and we seem unable to deal with them efficiently. I would like cases of this nature dealt with, if possible. I could speak for a long time on the issue.

I am sure other speakers have brought to the Minister's attention the fact that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, and the Irish Refugee Council have expressed a number of concerns about the legislation, which they have enumerated in 20 to 30 points. It would be good to go through them carefully, as I am sure the Minister will. I am sure the Minister will have a ready ear to all the suggestions for amendments or improvements in the long list of concerns expressed by those who have been at the forefront of dealing with refugees over the years. I am delighted that the legislation is being brought forward after 19 years and that the Minister has taken the initiative. We should progress it as quickly as possible and pass it before the Government comes to an end.

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