Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I gather from media reports that the Taoiseach was put out that the positive media coverage he received internationally for the speech he gave last week in President Trump's presence was not replicated in Ireland. He had the benefit of Channel 4 and The New York Timesnot being too well acquainted with how his fine words in Washington square up to the reality in Ireland. Conversely, the Irish media, being aware of the manner in which undocumented migrants are treated in this State, knew the ridicule to which they would be open if they were as effusive as the international media. The reality in Ireland is that if a St. Patrick were to arrive today, depending on his country of origin, he could well find himself caught up in our inhumane, degrading and racist system of direct provision.

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If he was an adult, he would be permitted a pittance of €19.10 per week or €15.60 if he was a minor. He would have a 40% chance of languishing in this position for five years and a 20% chance of still being unregularised after seven years. Between this and the constant threat of deportation, it should come as no surprise that direct provision has proven to be deleterious to the physical and mental health of people caught in it. The 5,000 people in direct provision in Ireland would be equivalent to over 300,000 people in the US. The plight of 50,000 undocumented Irish in the US is bad enough but could we imagine for a moment what it would be like if an equivalent or greater amount of undocumented Irish were kept in the conditions that migrants experience here on the Taoiseach's watch?

I put it to the Taoiseach that ending the inhumane regime of direct provision might escape the attention of Channel 4 and The New York Timesbut it would be an act of infinitely greater significance than the speech in Washington if it could be ended. Is it not the case that by not ending direct provision and providing a scale of amnesty the likes of which the Taoiseach correctly demands for the Irish in the US, the Taoiseach will correctly be seen by the 5,000 people in direct provision in Ireland as being two-faced and hypocritical?

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