Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is clear to me that this motion has malicious intentions. I see no other purpose in it than to stir up hate and division in this country, a shameful and reprehensible pursuit that the Rural Independent Group has been engaging in for a while. It has gone on far too long and needs to be called out.

I highlight the fact that there is a racist element of this motion. The first two lines after "notes that" highlight the fact that the motion relates to "non-Ukrainian International Protection Accommodation Services". The motion goes to great lengths to highlight that the group does not have issues with Ukrainian migrants, their accommodation or the money being spent on them, which undermines the Deputies' argument that the motion is about the lack of accommodation and the stretching of our resources and not about race.

I find it interesting that one of the "concerns" highlighted in the motion is the findings of the Ombudsman for Children's special report on the safety and welfare of children in direct provision, given that not a single one of the six Rural Independent Group TDs showed up to the debate on the motion I brought forward on that report last Thursday evening, for which the ombudsman was present. It is evident that the group does not actually care about the welfare of children in direct provision and is shamefully using this in the motion as cover for the Deputies' anti-immigration arguments.

The motion highlights the fact that Georgia was the leading country of origin for applicants in 2022 and that "other European Union (EU) countries tighten immigration laws, while Ireland's more attractive laws result in 'asylum tourism'" without acknowledging the fact that visa-free travel to 26 countries of the Schengen area came into effect for Georgian nationals in 2017, with many countries offering work visas, the very same countries that have tighter immigration laws. It is disingenuous, then, to suggest that our immigration laws are lenient while Europe's are strict when it is clearly the other way around.

During a briefing with Traveller organisations yesterday afternoon, I was struck by the palpable fear felt right now by minority groups - the Traveller community, the LGBTQI+ community, the disabled community and the migrant community - due to the rise of far-right sentiment, enabled by the hatred and misinformation spewed by Members here and in the Seanad. Those Deputies are not nobly addressing people's fears by tabling this motion; they are facilitating those who are causing hurt and fear in our communities, demonstrated clearly by the very last line of the motion.

I will not support the motion, and I hope the Deputies who have put it forward hang their heads in shame at the division they are causing in this country by doing so.

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