Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will make my point as briefly as I can. I have heard the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, describe the forces that at the moment are changing our world, changing Europe and Ireland and changing the lives of the tens of thousands of people who have come to our country. Sometimes, when I try to interpret what that change means, it is those glimpses that I see in my community and in the country that remind me of what this means on a very human level to those who have experienced the global trauma of war that is now afflicting their lives.

It is coming through Dublin Airport very late at night and seeing mothers and children in a corridor looked after by officials who are trying to support them. It is those who are coming to our country fleeing trauma that I can barely imagine and wondering where they are going to spend the night. It is going into a primary school in my constituency and seeing children who are fleeing war in a playground being supported by teachers and new friends who are also fleeing circumstances of terror and violence. It is calling into a home in my constituency and meeting somebody who, a year or a few months ago, was living in a home with a solid roof and thinking that despite everything, they might survive but who now find themselves in a bedroom receiving support, with their life changed, living in a different country and living a life they never thought possible.

Those human moments underscore for me the scale of the challenge Ireland and Europe are now facing and the choice we have regarding what side of the division, what side of the debate, we want to be on when human rights, the rule of law and the ability to safely protect our borders are challenged in a way that I had thought and hoped, as recently as a year ago, was unimaginable in my lifetime but which is now happening. I have also seen the reaction in this country. I have seen the hospitality, support and generosity but also the signs of growing division and debate.

Since 2019, Government has increased expenditure from €66 billion to over €90 billion. We have a €2 billion reserve for this year, of which €1.5 billion has been allocated to the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, to ensure the State is making available resources and support to those who are coming to our country having experienced conditions we can barely imagine. I hear the argument made that because some people are coming here, it means less for others. That is an argument I reject. Our country will become bigger, broader and deeper, not lessened, by welcoming those who are fleeing war and trauma. We are making these resources available to ensure the values and decency of our country are shown to those who are coming here by providing the public services and support they need and deserve.

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