Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Taoiseach, last November I asked you as Taoiseach, as leader of our country, to lead what I hoped would be an open, honest, factual and respectful debate on immigration. So far this has not happened. In my view, until we treat our citizens as adults and trust them with all the facts - the nice stuff we want them to hear and the hard facts, the tough stuff that is difficult - people will get and have got some of their information elsewhere, and that is not always good.

Today I want to raise one issue with you: the difficult national conversation around single men who are seeking asylum and the specific situation whereby some communities have said they will welcome and integrate families but not groups of single men. The knee-jerk reaction is that this is unacceptable and racist, and that these are far-right tropes. I am asking for a little bit of reflection. Just two years ago, thousands of visceral statements from so many Irish women followed the horrific murder of Ashling Murphy. I still remember some of the comments from the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in this House:

Not all men but all women grow up knowing we are not safe. [...] Not all men but all women know the feeling that creeps up your back when you hear steps behind you and you have to check.

The Dáil was also told that "By simply existing, women's lives are at risk from men whom they know and men whom they do not know".

Taoiseach, we believed women two years ago when they made these statements about Irish men. Why do we not at least entertain those statements from women now when they speak about the idea of 30, 40, or 50 single asylum seekers arriving in their town or village, living three or four to a room with no family connections and nothing to do most of the time? Why do we not take on those concerns as genuine? Let me be crystal clear. There is no evidence - zero evidence, none, none, none - that they pose any greater threat than 80 Irish men, but many women have said to me and I believe them that they would say the same thing about 80 Irish men in the same circumstances. I am not saying there is no racism involved here. We all need to question ourselves, but this heightened concern is real. I am just asking you to listen, to engage and to believe.

I am asking you to have the debate, warts and all, and to manage this in a reasonable and rational way so that we can honour our commitments and bring communities with us.

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