Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

We have all heard about the undocumented Irish living in the United States. Less commented upon are the approximately 20,000 undocumented people from outside the EU who are living in Ireland, including 2,000 to 3,000 children. It has been reported that almost a quarter of those people are earning below the minimum wage, with nearly half of them working more than 40 hours a week. They are facing extra exploitation due to their immigration status. They also face issues like lack of proper healthcare for themselves and their children, while others are the victims of crime but feel unable to seek help from the authorities for fear of being forced to leave Ireland. I welcome the draft scheme to regularise undocumented migrants, but it does not go far enough in the context of including all undocumented workers. The Minister's proposed scheme does not, for example, include people with pending applications under section 3 or deportation orders, people with fewer than four years residence and people who have been living in Ireland for a long time but who have been undocumented for fewer than four years. Will the Taoiseach intervene to ensure that the proposal is amended to include those people in the scheme?

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