Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Very few people have talked about the detail of the pact and the fact that this took eight years to come about. It took eight years of contribution by Irish people in Brussels at every level to ensure that we talk about this. When I was on the EU's committee of the regions, I sat on the CIVEX committee. All my colleagues from the Mediterranean wanted to talk about Mediterranean crossings, migration and the asylum crisis and the fact that this was seen in a total vacuum as some sort of humanitarian issue alone in Ireland. The issue has been moving on further and further. It is quite clear that the Dublin III regulations are completely out of date and no longer fit for purpose. What this pact seeks to do, can do and is absolutely right to do, is make sure that the system across the European Union is better harmonised, quicker and more cost-effective. It needs to be fair to those who are seeking refuge and to those who are migrating, but also crucially it provides a pathway for EU member states to address the challenges that are being very clearly presented in every community and every village across this country as it has been doing for other member states for quite some time.

One of the root causes of the issue that so many people face is the scourge of human trafficking and smuggling. I recall the report launched by the former Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, when he was a Member of the European Parliament back in 2004 citing the issue of human trafficking and how this was absolutely plaguing not just those who are being trafficked but communities across the European Union. This is where the root of the need for reform and the absolute need for this pact lies.

When talking about the pact, I use this opportunity to respond to some of the claims that will be made in this Chamber or that have been consistently made or indeed that all of us are receiving consistently into our office by email or are seeing on social media. Often it is being presented as absolute fact. I will talk about sovereignty in a moment and our entire role within the European Union. A common tactic is to say that this will lead to 30,000 individuals, asylum seekers, migrants or whatever we call them being forced upon Ireland. This is a very deliberate tactic used by those who are looking to spread disinformation. That is absolute nonsense. Anyone who has read the pact further than the first page will know that if the solidarity clause is invoked in Ireland, Ireland will only have to accept a fraction of this - exactly 648 people - or pay us far smaller financial contribution to the solidarity fund if we choose; we are not forced to.

Not only will this allow us to have a quicker turnaround time but will also provide a far better way of returning those who have failed in the asylum process to member states. I take great issue with the line that I think Deputy O'Rourke used in that somehow we are far better to do this independently - ourselves alone, that old trope. This is a global phenomenon. When we are talking about migration, we have to talk about far more than just accommodation. We also have to talk about the motivating trends which can be war, climate change, the pursuit of a better life, escape from persecution and so much else. The very notion that we can do it on our own is an absolute fallacy.

We only have to look across the United Kingdom, which left the EU for many reasons but one of which was used most egregiously by the hard Brexiteers was that somehow this would address immigration. We see the election platform launched by the Reform Party yesterday, which absolutely ruled out any further immigration. We are not talking about illegal immigration or asylum seekers, but absolute non-essential immigration into the United Kingdom going forward. One of the issues it cited is that somehow Brexit will help the UK process asylum seekers much more quickly, which we have obviously seen to be false because what we have seen post Brexit is that the level of migration into the UK has gone up, including legal migration, illegal migration, asylum seekers and cross-channel crossings. The ability to utilise the provisions under EU law in terms of returning people who failed asylum applications or in terms of reunification is completely lost on the British Government. This notion that is being put across repeatedly that somehow we should do this on our own, that we are an island and that we can solve this is absolute nonsense. It is a recipe to cause trouble and make sure that our systems absolutely fall apart.

A number of comments have suggested that somehow this is a surrender of sovereignty. It is an issue as old as time. This comes back to Deputy Tóibín's comments when he suggested going back to what the European project was originally about - some sort of free trading area. Anyone with a scant knowledge of European or Irish history knows that that is not what it started as. It started with the European Coal and Steel Community. It started with the pursuit of peace, bringing people together and providing better lives to the largest displacement of people on this Continent in history. That is where the European project started. The European Economic Community came much later. It came after Euratom, after the development of the Common Agricultural Policy and much more. The notion of a European project has always been about far more than a collection of member states. It has been far more than a loose trading agreement. It is not some sort of North American Free Trade Agreement for the Continent. It is far more than that and is far more important than that. It is absolutely about pooling sovereignty and sharing ideas. It is not about taking edicts by some foreign power.

The two previous Secretaries General of the European Commission were both from Dublin. Throughout the over 40-year history of the European project, we have seen Irish men and women serving at every single level of the European Union with distinction. When Irish Ministers go into European Council meetings, they represent Irish people but they look to get a common solution and a common good developed across the Continent.

We need to nip in the bud this notion that somehow making the decision to opt into a pact is somehow giving up sovereignty. We are making a decision that will allow us to do things better, quicker and fairer. It will ensure that it is absolutely Irish people who have a say. We will not see decision being imposed. Ireland will still retain the veto power. It was already said a minute ago that the rules are going to change, that we will be forced into an EU army and that we will lose QMV. These notions and discussions have been allowed to seep into debate without people calling them out to say that they are absolutely false. That is really important.

Some people have suggested that the nature restoration law was somehow forced upon us before the European Parliament came back into sitting. Anyone who says that does not realise that the nature restoration law has been passed by the European Parliament and it is a matter for the European Council. It is the ordinary legislative procedure, yet people want to ignore the rules, ignore legislation and ignore constitution to score cheap political points and clearly spread fear about very important issues.

I understand that some people have concerns with the EU migration pact. Some people will say it is too hard and others will say it is not hard enough. However, it is a compromise by 27 sovereign states, members of a collective union who have made a decision to work together for the better good of their citizens, for those seeking asylum, and of promoting the EU as the best place in the world, the largest economy and a place that people understandably want to come to. This has unfortunately just given rise to an easy bit of EU bashing with absolute ignorance and scant regard for what is an important pact. It is the product of eight years of detailed negotiation between ministers, officials, Members of the European Parliament and many more. It is crucially important that Ireland opts into it at this time, but we opt in by giving clear information to people. This is an opportune time for a lot of people to discuss migration more widely. We have heard contributions from Deputies, some of which were raised many times previously. They want to talk about issues such as accommodation in their local communities. They are entitled to do that, and they are entitled to seek answers. They are also responsible to make sure we say we are first and foremost discussing this pact.

If this leads to a wider debate on migration, we have to put things clear on the record. I have no hesitation in saying that immigration is a good thing for our country. It is a good thing for our economy and a good thing for our society. When I had the privilege to serve as Minister of State in the Department of enterprise, I was proud to issue 31,000 work permits to people from outside the European Union who are coming here to work in our hospitals, on our building sites, in our multinational companies and in our communities, and to contribute so much. That is why it is vitally important we have an immigration and migration system that works. That is why it is so important we opt into this migration pact, to make sure that those who come here to seek work go through the appropriate channel looking for work permits. Deputy English, when he was Minister of State, managed to get that waiting time reduced from three months to 12 days. It was an exceptional piece of work with dedicated officials. We see ongoing work from Deputy McEntee's officials and others to make sure the visa system is sped up. A lot of people have said the Government can allocate more resources now. The resources are being allocated. Today the Minister for Justice announced more officials to work in the visa processing system and the asylum processing system to make sure it works. We need to reform our system and we need to speed it up.

I will briefly comment on an event in my constituency yesterday. For a number of weeks my constituency has been the focus of a lot of commentary about IPAS centres and community engagement. That is a complete understatement. There were unfortunately a couple of unsavoury incidents that required arrests and the presence of An Garda Síochána, and a number of people from outside the constituency were arrested. What I witnessed yesterday in the pastoral centre of the Holy Cross Church in Dundrum was something we do not see enough on the news. They expected a crowd of between ten and 12, but we saw more than 120 people. We saw asylum seekers, people born and reared in Dundrum and people who came to Ireland in the past couple of years come together to network, meet and arrange. We saw representatives from two different football clubs and cricket clubs who wanted to work, integrate and welcome people. I believe that is inherently at the soul of Irish people. We are a welcoming people. This is the land of 100,000 welcomes. We need a system to make sure those welcomes are reflective of what is needed in society. I fundamentally believe that the more we do it in co-operation with our European partners, the more we will get a system that works better. The people in that pastoral centre yesterday came from all countries and local areas. There were people who have been in Ireland their entire lives and who were born and bred here. There were people who only arrived a number of years ago but are as Irish as we are. We hold our passport proudly and we see athletes proudly representing our country who perhaps were not born here, or whose parents were not born here. It does not make them any less Irish than us. We have to remember that. They have to know the system works. They want to know we will debate fairly about how we improve that system and make sure that system is truly representative of what we want to achieve. In order to get a system that works, I fundamentally believe that we need to pass this motion as speedily as possible.

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