Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will comment on the timeline. We gave a commitment in the programme for Government to implement a new scheme within 18 months. While we are slightly shy of that, the scheme will open in the new year. I give that commitment. I am aware that people are anxious and nervous and want to know that it will open when we say it will. It will open in the new year. There may have been slight delays in that we wanted to engage as much as possible and I wanted to make the scheme as inclusive as possible to make sure that when it opens the systems and structures are in place so that people will not be waiting years for their status to be regularised.

I do not want to get into the details of the scheme because we have not published it yet. I do not want to speculate on what may or may not be in it. It is an undocumented scheme but we have also tried to take into account the fact that there are many different scenarios and different situations that people find themselves in. It is not as straightforward as one might think or that a person is here for a length of time and is undocumented and that is it. We are trying to take all of these things into account. Obviously, by working with the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, and all of the organisations, we have been doing that. I hope to publish the details of the scheme in the coming weeks.

I stress again that there are still other avenues for people to avail of. Unfortunately, the fact is that no matter what scheme one opens there will always be somebody on the wrong side of the line. We have to draw a line somewhere. I am trying to make it as inclusive as possible.

See this speech in context