Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Irish people have experienced the devastation of having to make the journey to foreign shores not knowing if they would be welcomed when they got there. In most cases, they were welcomed with open arms but, in some cases, they were not welcomed by people who were intent on sowing division. If any people know the need to offer a welcome and refuge to those fleeing conflict or persecution, it is the Irish people and the vast majority do think that way.

That being said, I have questions as to how the Government has handled the situation. The Government has failed communities by not putting in place the additional resources necessary to accommodate the additional people. Indeed, these communities were under-resourced in general prior to the arrival of asylum seekers. We need additional teachers, additional gardaí and more GPs. Communities are not being appropriately listened to and have concerns which need to be listened to, engaged with and resolved. Organisations, such as family resource centres, youth facilities, addiction and mental health services, which are at the coalface of trying to assist the growing number of asylum seekers while also trying to assist those vulnerable communities they were originally set up to assist, have not received any additional supports and are being stretched to breaking point.

The Government is also failing asylum seekers. It was very obvious that the Government was not and still is not prepared for the large number of asylum seekers arriving here. The Government has adopted a two-tier system of asylum and that has led to the fracturing of relationships and resentment between different groups of asylum seekers. It is unfair and it has also led to differing levels of supports, fracturing relationships with Irish people and other working people here in this country. It is stoking up resentment and that is being exploited.

Outside of the asylum system, many immigrants have come to work in Ireland to seek out a better future for themselves and their families. We are familiar with this story because we have emigrated all over the world not knowing what type of reception we would receive. Just as most Irish people have brought many valuable attributes to the countries we went to, so too have most of the immigrants coming here. Indeed, without the immigrants currently here in Ireland, many vital areas of our economy and our health system could not function.

Much misinformation is being spread and little has been done to counter this by the Government. We hear constantly about unvetted immigrants yet the fact is that on arrival, asylum seekers are interviewed by an immigration officer. They are registered at the international protection office. They are finger-printed. They are photographed. They are checked to establish if they have applied for asylum elsewhere or have criminal records. This system, however, is not robust enough. It needs to be resourced properly. Decisions on asylum applications need to be quicker and deportations, when that is the outcome, must be overseen and carried out in a timely manner. Sinn Féin believes Ireland, like every other country, must have control over its borders and must have a fair, efficient and enforced immigration system, a system with well-functioning rule and regulations that everyone understands and that serves the interests of the Irish people.

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