Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Higgins.

This is an important debate. I agree with much of what has been said, on all sides of the House. It strikes a chord with me and the people I have been talking to. Nobody would have believed in February 2022 that 85,000 new people would now be living in Ireland. It is the equivalent of the total population of counties Cavan or Offaly or, as was said by a Minister, of Galway city. That is a huge task. To be fair to the Minister and the Government, I think what happened in Clare is the exception to what is happening rather than the rule. I fully agree with Deputy Sherlock in the context of my constituency. The commitment of the communities and the voluntary bodies is fantastic, and that is the case in most places in the country. I agree that working together across this House for the good of all the people is the only way forward on this.

The mistakes made in Clare are clear. There was inadequate consultation and there was no obvious community gain. I recall seeing footage on television that showed the homes that were to be given to the people. There was lighting and facilities in the building but there was nothing outside it or in the surrounding area. The €50 million community recognition fund, not least for helping Ukrainian refugees, was announced last week and has been very welcome. The Government has done and is doing a lot, and some of the communities in County Louth who have got that funding are happy and welcome it very much, so well done to the Minister. What he probably needs is an available, active fund such that if he meets with communities who may have difficulties, he will have an immediate source of funding for footpaths and lighting. I do not know the geography of the County Clare village but I do know the community raised those points. If there were an immediate community gain, it would make a lot of sense.

I agree absolutely with the views expressed regarding those who block roads or wear masks and prevent people from going to work. That is utterly unacceptable. While I fully recognise the wisdom and the integrity of the views of the Garda Síochána, I am not happy and would like to see more action. Counting people on a bus who are refugees is exceptionally ignorant and unacceptable to me. It strikes at the heart of the respect that should be shown for people who are in this country. The argument made by those who do this sort of counting is that Ireland has an open door, but the facts suggest otherwise. In 2022, 141,000 non-EU citizens were refused entry to the European Union as a whole, with the highest numbers relating to Poland at 23,000, Hungry at 15,000, Croatia at 11,000 and Ireland, the fourth-highest refusal, at 9,240. It is not true to say, therefore, that Ireland has an open door, that we do not have a due or fair process or that it is not firm or fair.

It seems to me that if we are the fourth highest in Europe in refusing people entry, we have a due and a fair process. I am not sure if I heard correctly on the television but I think we need a European-wide policy for anybody who comes into this country in terms of what happens to them, the resources they are given and the facilities provided to them. It should be a universal policy across the European Union that this is what we do.

I point one thing out to those who object. I take on board what the Sinn Féin Deputy from Kerry said about the emigrants from Kerry. My own relatives came from Kerry and when I looked at the records in the 1940s to find people who fought in the War of Independence in the local highway battalion of which they were members in the 1920s, practically 99% of them had addresses in America. America has been a great country for Irish people and we have to be a great country for people who have a right to live here and to work provided they meet the requirements of the access processes. We have a shortage of workers. We need a lot of people in our building industry. Therefore, there are many skills we cannot provide locally. I do not have an issue with us finding work for those people.

One thing I would say about the Irish who went to America in the 18th and particularly in the 19th century was that they had a different religion to the people who lived in America at the time. The Irish were Catholics and the vast majority of people in America were Protestants. They spoke Irish and they were accepted as well. We have people coming into the country who have a different religion from the majority and who do not speak our language. We should look at the lessons the Irish got in America and accept people into society in that context.

There is a lot consensus in this debate. There is an awful lot more ways in which we can work together. Anybody who has good suggestions and the positive messages from this House today, notwithstanding the political points people are making, show that the heart and soul of the Irish people is welcoming and open to all of these new citizens. This will happen by working together and by increasing the Minister's involvement and his connection with his Deputies. I know when there was an issue in County Louth, he rang all of us. I do not know what happened in County Clare but I have no doubt that will definitely not happen again. That might be a positive thing as well. I welcome the debate and I look forward to the comments of Members.

See this speech in context