Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Next week is the first anniversary of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. It is fair to say that it has been the catalyst of the largest displacement of people since the Second World War and in the history of the EU. I want to put on the record of the House my thanks to the communities in my constituency and across the country for their response and welcome. This debate is timely in the context of that first anniversary. It is also timely in the context of a huge number of people seeking international protection from other war-torn countries and because it is a debate that is being held in every parish and community across this country. It is important that legitimate and genuine concerns are heard and listened to by all of us in this House. Doing so will enable us to improve our response to what is an unprecedented challenge. There are areas in which we can do better. Last week Billy Kelleher MEP shared a video of a modular unit that was built in four weeks to accommodate 400 people. Despite us being 12 months into this crisis, we have yet to do this. It beggars belief that there are still many State-owned buildings that have not been brought into use to help with this issue.

We know that many of the people who are coming through international protection are very genuine and we have a moral and legal obligation to help these people. However, we also know that there are people coming in as economic migrants. For people to have confidence in our system we must ensure it is open, efficient and incorruptible. Last week I submitted a parliamentary question on the Dublin Convention, which enables any country to return migrants to safe countries if they come and present in a second country. In 2022 there were 24 ongoing transfer decisions and only three people were returned. That seems a low figure. When we are looking at economic migrants, we should be looking at assisting them through working visas in areas where we need these workers, such as construction and transport, and we should look at using technology to speed up the process. We should also look to increase the number of people processing applications rather than reducing the number of people processing applications. In doing so, we will be able to move more swiftly to approve those with legitimate claims to asylum and return those without legitimate claims to their homes, bringing every journey to its rightful conclusion.

We are all incredibly fortunate to reside in a country that protects our fundamental well-being and our most basic freedoms. To live in Ireland is a privilege and that privilege creates in us a moral obligation to help those whose condition of birth was not so lucky.

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