Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat. I thank all Deputies who contributed to what I hope will prove a worthwhile debate. Knowing the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, as I do, having spoken to him on this issue on a number of occasions and having listened to his closing contribution, I can only hope that his opening contribution was not of his authorship. I do not believe that it reflects the views that the Minister of State has expressed previously. In his opening contribution the Minister of State said:

The Minister for Justice and Equality and I have examined the Oireachtas committee report with a view to identifying what elements, if any, of the recommendations could be acted upon in some way. We have asked officials from the Department to take forward this work. This would mean a sector by sector approach in the context of [what the Minister of State refers to as] our international commitments.

As a committee, members were unanimous. I emphasise this because it is important that it was right across the board - Government, the Opposition, all parties and Independent voices. We unanimously indicated that these international commitments do not go far enough. We want the Government, on behalf of the Irish people, to meet our international responsibilities, which is a much different situation. The Committee on Justice and Equality wants the Government, the State apparatus and agencies to strive for and deliver our responsibilities in this regard and not our already stated commitments, which are largely unfulfilled.

In the opening contribution to the debate the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, and the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, have dismissed our recommendation urging the introduction of a structured regularisation programme for people who are undocumented. The Minister of State has come back a little bit, having listened to the contributions in the debate and he was more reflective of his own personal disposition in his closing contribution.

The Minister of State spoke in his opening remarks of "any number of unintended and expensive consequences" of such a programme. Let us be very clear. I have no reason to believe that any of the people in Ireland who are undocumented, from whatever age profile, are undesirable in any way and many of them are children. This includes Irish born children within these families. They live very sadly. As parents we must think seriously about this. They live a very shadowy life with family, with school friends and within the communities where they live. This is absolutely wrong. I want to emphasise that they too are children of our nation. In his opening contribution the Minister of State has offered them neither remedy nor hope.

With regard to the term "unintended consequences", more than two in three of these people are in full-time employment, of those who are surveyed among the undocumented population. Regularisation would offer increased contributions from PRSI and USC returns for the Exchequer, including from the employers in these instances who are using their labour to avoid making their respective contributions as Irish citizens.

What of the Irish people who are undocumented in the United States of America? The Minister of State's message in his opening contribution this evening is, I believe, a slap-down to them and to their families here at home. The Minister of State has offered them no remedy and no hope. He cannot expect others to do at his behest or bidding what he is not prepared to do himself. I remind the Minister of State that he said:

We should not forget that people usually become undocumented through their own conscious actions or omissions. Such persons are subject to the rule of law on the same basis as anyone else in the State, including our citizens. They are obliged to honour their immigration conditions and to leave the State when their permission to be here ceases, and they are responsible for ensuring that they have the appropriate permission...

The current Administration in the United States of America could not say it any differently. We need to show that we actually mean what we say. We can demonstrate that we are indeed a people who care for displaced peoples and we can demonstrate our international credentials on this issue by first extending the hand of friendship and warmth of welcome to people who are undocumented in our midst. Under Ireland's refugee protection programme, established for almost two years, we have only accommodated access to our shores for 1,337 people. This is significantly short of the 4,000 originally committed to. This does not reflect our awareness, as a people, of the crisis that exists in the lives of so many people who are fleeing conflict and the threat to their safety and their families' safety. The Irish people want us, as the Government and its agencies, to operate on their behalf to respond in a much more serious and speedy way. Two years on it is time to move up another gear in this respect.

I reiterate the clarification I advised earlier in recommendation No. 2 from the Report on Immigration, Asylum and the Refugee Crisis around family reunification. It is very important. We called on the Government to introduce a humanitarian admission programme with transparent and clearly defined criteria to deal with visa applications in a more sensitive way and to offer a safe and legal route for people to flee conflict zones and be reunited with family members in Ireland. It is very important to recognise that within that statement it was the committee's clear intention to recommend that this facilitation be extended to all people who are legally resident in the State and not just those who were naturalised, as was referenced in the first sentence of recommendation No. 2. I put the Minister of State on notice that this was the intention of the committee members and I will notify him formally in writing, on behalf of the committee, in the coming days. I ask the Minister of State to note that point.

The Minister of State made reference to the interdepartmental task force to consider the Supreme Court decision vis-à-visthe denial of the right to work to those who are in the direct provision centres. Will the Minister of State advise us in this regard? I know he will not get the chance to come back in to this debate now but maybe he will take the time to drop me a note. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality would like to know the construct of that interdepartmental task force. Who are its members? What Departments are represented? Is it at ministerial level, is it at official level or is it mixed? Will the Minister of State indicate its membership and perhaps he will be more precise around his expectation to receive the report of their consideration on the Supreme Court judgment? I believe there is a lack of certainty in the words that he has indicated to us.

For the record, with regard to the Minister of State's closing remarks, the committee did not call for the closure of the direct provision centres, although some may well indeed close.

I can assure the Minister of State that every committee member held absolutely to the recommendations put forward. Some of the centres might well deserve to be closed but we urged that their use should only be for short-stay purposes. We were quite considered in that regard. Gabhaim mo bhuíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus le gach ball a ghlac páirt san díospóireacht tábhachtach seo.

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