Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Not On Our Watch is a great name for a campaign. Not On Our Watch has highlighted for the people in the Chamber and the greater public what this issue is all about, namely, there are 1,500 unaccompanied children in Calais. Those unaccompanied children do not have parents or relatives. They were left in the camp, but their homes burned down in the past week and they have dispersed. Not On Our Watch has highlighted the fact, through the action of many people on the ground, that Ireland is open to taking 200 children. They do not want the 1,500. They want to open their arms and say they are available to take 200 children.

When I sat in the briefing room in Buswells Hotel last week, I could not believe what I heard. They said that 800 families had communicated through the Irish Red Cross their willingness and availability to take in children. We have the capacity, the families and the support of Tusla. We can do it. For once, let us not be reactive politicians. Let us be visionaries and proactive. Let us demonstrate what the people are asking us to do. If any of our children or our brother or sister were abandoned, where would our heart be on it? We would want to support them, care for them and foster them. We should extend our hand to those in France and tell them we are prepared to help by bringing people to this country. These are young children with an education and who are well able to speak English. They have never said they do not want to come to Ireland.

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