Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this subject. Fianna Fáil has already tabled a motion condemning the executive order which will have huge implications for Iran, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. The order also indefinitely halts refugees coming from Syria. I do not believe for one moment that President Trump is concerned about our motion in Dáil Éireann today. While acknowledging that immigration policy is the domestic responsibility of any given country, Ireland has a moral obligation to stand up and say what is wrong. Any type of discrimination based exclusively on race, religion or nationality is morally wrong. That is why I have no hesitation in saying so.

However, we have a direct impact and control over our own policy. I find it bemusing that the Government can castigate other governments for their failings without looking at our own. Our failings concerning the international refugee crisis are stark. We are not measuring up to our international obligations in terms of resettlement and relocation. To date, only four unaccompanied minors have been relocated in our country. That is wrong.

Recently I attended a Council of Europe forum and had an opportunity of listening to the first-hand experience of a refugee who had been resettled and rehoused in Germany. The brutality they went through in their mother country, brought home to me just how much Ireland is failing. The Government needs to take that on board.

I also wish to raise the issue of pre-clearance at our airports. Two weeks ago, in somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction to the executive order, the Taoiseach acknowledged that he would carry out a review on pre-clearance at our airports. We need to acknowledge and recognise that the pre-clearance facility is operated by US officials, not Irish ones. Any rejection of pre-clearance at Shannon or Dublin would be a huge inconvenience not to America or President Trump, but to Irish citizens - the 1 million who use pre-clearance at Dublin Airport and the 200,000 who use it at Shannon Airport. It would eliminate our competitive advantage, which many other European airports are intensively lobbying the US administration to achieve. The Government should come out forcefully and say that there is no issue with pre-clearance at our airports.

The Taoiseach is right to go to the White House on 17 March. It may be his last foreign trip. When he goes there, however, he should forcibly highlight the plight of the undocumented Irish in America. The anxiety and fear of families with relatives living in America have certainly intensified since President Trump assumed office.

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