Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleagues on the justice committee, I support the recommendations made here. I thank and welcome the people in the Gallery, who deserve recognition and also rights. Those rights need to be properly progressed by the Government. The committee's report mirrors what the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, introduced and recommended when he was its Chairman. He probably has déjà vu. He is in a different position now, which has more authority and in which he can make a difference and make a change. I know that is a statement of pressure, but that is the reality of Government. I hope the Minister of State is not here to reiterate and regurgitate speeches we have heard from his predecessor. As a backbencher, Deputy Stanton's position mirrored that of Deputy Ó Caoláin today. Today, however, the Minister of State is reiterating and paraphrasing the words of his predecessor in the Department of Justice and Equality. That is a problem.

What we are seeing across many areas is that, despite really progressive proposals being brought through, despite engaging with the various interest groups and looking at the international picture and the various human rights aspects involved, Ministers are ignoring everything and going back to the permanent government that exists within the Departments. We can all relate to stories such as those we have heard today. The Minister of State's proposals about doing things on a case-by-case basis is code from the Department for kicking this to touch, probably for a significant period.

To quote the Minister of State, as Chairman of the justice committee he said that the committee was told the current situation could be addressed through a once-off, time-bound regularisation scheme. He said, "Our committee believes that rights of migrants must be respected." I fully believe that he still holds that view and would like to see a type of regularisation scheme. All that has changed is his ministerial position. I have absolute faith in the Minister of State as a Minister. He has a genuine interest in this area and served as Chairman of the justice committee. However, we need to see more than a once-off scheme. We need more than references to Brexit and the international climate. This has been well researched and is being strongly recommended now for a second time. While it might be a case of déjà vufor the Minister of State, it is important that we see real progress.

As other Deputies have mentioned, there is a contradiction in Government policy. We go to the US and look for similar rights for Irish citizens who left these shores. The Taoiseach has a new spokesperson with responsibility for the diaspora who wants to ensure that Irish people have rights elsewhere. It is an absolute hypocrisy that we are doing the complete opposite here. The Government cannot promote a changing of rights and status in another state when there is a completely contradictory policy at home. These people deserve regularisation. They deserve their rights and normalisation of their status. They are working and living here and their children are being educated here.

As my colleague Deputy O'Callaghan said, Fianna Fáil introduced a Bill in 2015 to try to push this forward but it was rejected by the Government. The survey by the Migrant Rights Council of Ireland, MRCI, of more than 1,000 undocumented people showed that nine out of ten were in active employment and two thirds of those had been in the same job for two years. Some 85% have been in Ireland for more than five years and half for more than eight years. We need to give the people hope, progress and, to quote the Taoiseach, opportunity in this country. A republic of opportunity means giving rights and hope to people who have come here from further shores.

As was mentioned earlier, 150 years ago there were 8 million people on this island and we are probably at about half that now. The citizens of Ireland left these shores when they were dying in the Famine and due to starvation and other matters that truly affected them. We need to remember those people and the struggles they had elsewhere. Now we are a developed State that has good relative wealth, we need to ensure in respect of those who come here from really difficult scenarios, who seek asylum, who are working here, that we normalise and regularise their status. It is the least we can do for them. That is why the recommendations made by the justice committee try to give hope to those people. It is important that it is not just another report that gathers dust. The previous report from the justice committee did just that.

Now we have a Minister of State, who was the previous Chairman of the committee in question, in a position of authority. It is up to him to balance the Department. He has political responsibility and democratic accountability. He has a duty to deliver rights and regularisation for the undocumented in this country. We cannot have more of the same. The Minister of State suggested in his speech that "the recommendations could be acted on in some way". That is the definition of a generic speech written by a civil servant in order to kick a matter to touch. I do not think it is acceptable. We have a different cross-party Dáil now. The members of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality, including those from the Minister of State's party, unanimously endorsed the recommendations of the report.

We want a regularisation programme. We need to hear more than excuses and references to the potential negative effects of such an approach. We need to embrace a regularisation scheme that works. I have referred to the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland statistics that show this can be achieved. Many of those who have been here for a significant length of time are working here and have children here. All we are doing is limiting their entitlements and placing barriers in their way as they look for the rights they deserve, which should be equal to those enjoyed by citizens of this country. We are advocating for Irish citizens in similar positions across the globe. It is an absolute contradiction to be proposing something in another land or state when we are doing the complete opposite here, or at least accepting it to a degree before kicking it to touch.

Although I think the Minister of State wants to see a change here, and has tried to propose something, his speech does not give much hope to the people in the Gallery to be perfectly honest. If thousands of people are considered on a case-by-case basis, most of them will not achieve the status they should achieve. The Minister of State needs to follow the recommendations he advocated in the Dáil over a year ago when he was in a different position. Now is the time to leave a legacy in the Department. As the Minister of State knows, anyone who has the honour of serving in government, having been given a position of authority, needs to take on the people who kick proposals to touch and wait for the next Minister to come along so he or she can hear the same policy contradictions.

I absolutely support the recommendations that were agreed by committee members of all parties and none. They need to be implemented. We need to give hope, status and rights to people who have moved to Ireland because they see it as a land of opportunity. Despite the Government's rhetoric about opportunity, it is limiting opportunity by putting barriers in the way of people who want to get a better education, see progress in their lives and live and work in a safe society. We should all support such people. The next time this is brought through, I hope the Government will have changed its position. Rather than taking a case-by-case approach, the Government should put in place a potential pilot regularisation scheme, or a full regularisation scheme as we have proposed. We need to give more hope to the people in the Gallery this evening and the people out there who deserve greater protection of their status and rights in 21st century Irish society. We should not forget where Ireland was 150 years ago. We need to remember that we all have relations elsewhere who have lived that journey. When we are advocating changes elsewhere, we need to have consistency within our own island.

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