Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important debate in the Dáil, outline my views on the pact and why I am supporting it and respond to some of the claims I have heard about the pact during this debate.

It is very easy, when discussing something that can be technical at times and involves the movement of many people, to lose sight of the human face of this issue and the human stories that should illuminate our ability to discuss very complex policy issues like this. I have experienced a number of human stories in my constituency over the last 18 months that lead me to the view that this pact is appropriate and the right thing for our country. They also reinforce the importance of this debate overall and the need to take care about the claims we make and the language we use.

The first story in my mind, as I listen to this debate, is about attending a ceremony in my constituency to mark a change in patronage in a primary school. The change was part of a process that had been worked on collaboratively with the local church, reflecting that the Catholic ethos and patronage of the school were no longer appropriate for the school community and the school community to come. The Minister, Deputy Foley, and I were present for the ceremony to mark this change. As I looked into the audience and saw all the young girls and boys who were present, all of whom were infants, including many born here and many born in other parts of the world, I saw that they were thinking about the school and their future. It reinforced for me the common views and needs we have, as humans and people living on this island. What those kids are looking for, regardless of where they were born, is an environment in which they are safe, are schooled and can play their role in the society in which they live. As I consider that experience, I find it very difficult to relate it to the claims I hear made about the dangers of migration and of what can happen if migration flows become unregulated. The very purpose of this pact is to put a regulatory framework on migration.

The second story relates to when I visit the centres in my constituency that house people seeking asylum in our country. I and, I am sure, other TDs have visited these centres and met people who have come to Ireland from circumstances I cannot imagine and who, frequently, have experienced danger and difficulty that are outside my ability to comprehend. I had one particular conversation with a man around my age that made me reflect on the fact that there but for the grace of God go I, or any of us. There but for the grace of God go we, and we have avoided that fate because we had the good fortune to be born in this part of the world in a stable, safe environment that allows us to avoid having to deal with those kinds of terrible challenges.

The third story is the many citizenship ceremonies that take place in this State. People who have come to our island go through very rigorous and arduous processes to become citizens of Ireland and to be treated with utter parity with all of those speaking in this debate. I contend that these are deeply valuable and positive experiences that are related to this debate and to the fact that 20% of the labour force come from outside the country or have moved here. It relates to the fact that every workplace in this country has changed and become so much more diverse. If we accept the economic reality that this country will need more workers in its public services and for its employers, and if we look at the human experiences that I am sure all of us have had and relate those to migration, the question becomes this: how can one accept, on one hand, that migration brings positive benefits and has much to offer our society and economy, while, on the other hand and at the same time, buy into the kind of approach that says we can have closed borders and that anybody who comes to our country seeking refuge is doing so in a way that is deceitful and less than honest? How can one accept the benefits migration can bring overall and then not treat the migration challenge in our country with a balance of competence and compassion? The great risk I fear we have to be aware of and navigate through is that we begin to equate migration, its benefits and the need for people to come into our country with the challenges we have with asylum-seeking, and that we get to a point that we begin to view it all as the same thing.

Openness has brought great benefits to Ireland. Without openness we would not have the public services or economy we have today. What this pact and the Government aim to do is to balance that openness with the need to respond to a migration of human beings that has taken place across the world, which has been caused by three wars, the breakdown of states and the climate change we see take place all around us.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Government have made the case for this pact throughout this debate. I, in turn, want to deal with some of the charges made against the pact this evening. First, I have heard the approach set out that any sharing of sovereignty is a bad thing, any pooling of sovereignty with our neighbours is intrinsically wrong and we should view with suspicion any efforts that seek to do this, either through the pact or any other form of co-operation. That is not the route to progress or for responding to the challenges of this century and what is to come. That is a step backwards. The reason we need to co-operate across borders and pool sovereignty on this issue is that the challenges we face here are too great for any country to deal with on its own. That is the very essence of the European Union and it is coming to life in this pact in recognising that we need a higher form of co-operation and co-ordination and that seeking to do this in a solitary way will ultimately be unsuccessful.

As for those who make the case for that approach, having listened to Deputy Mairéad Farrell's speech, I was honestly no wiser at the end of it as to what Sinn Féin's policy is. Perhaps Deputy Ó Laoghaire can respond on this. I heard Deputy Mairéad Farrell speak about dual-use goods, the future of the European Union project, geopolitical claims and President von der Leyen. I heard her speak about many other issues and I am no wiser as to what Sinn Féin's approach is to the migration pact and the great challenge we have in making the case for migration and dealing with the challenge of a greater number of asylum seekers coming to our country. I am afraid I have reached the view that Sinn Féin's policy is either shockingly naive or shockingly cynical. I hope Deputy Ó Laoghaire can prove my claims and fears wrong and outline what Sinn Féin's policy really is. If it is saying it wants to withdraw from many elements of this pact or, more precisely, not participate in them, what would Sinn Féin do instead?

What is its alternative? It can step back to the past and evoke images of other points in our history and talk about what it believes the EU should be but if it is not willing to co-operate with those that are on side with this framework and does not believe we would be in it, why should they co-operate with Ireland? If we decide to go on our own path, why should they decide that they will go on it with us? That is the really practical question I hope Deputy Ó Laoghaire can answer because no Sinn Féin speaker has done it so far and no Sinn Féin speaker has outlined what Sinn Féin would do. I have heard much about what Sinn Féin is against and why it does not want to be in the pact but I have not heard it say what it would do differently or how it would be able to respond to this. I look forward to hearing the Deputy say it.

I have also heard the views about requirements. I have heard it said that we should not have requirements placed upon us to do things in a particular way but if we are saying we are not willing to accept requirements on us to act in a certain way, why should other countries accept requirements on them? If we are saying that there are particular targets we should not meet or particular ways of handling this great challenge we should not conform to, why in turn should we expect other countries to co-operate with us? If we are not willing to meet particular standards and do things in a particular way required by this pact, why are we expecting other countries to do differently? That is at the heart of all of this. What is at the heart of all of this is dealing with a challenge that at a very human level moves across borders. As part of our membership of the EU, we have a political union that helps us create policies that are greater than what we can achieve on our own. To be inside this framework is the best practical prospect open to Ireland regarding how we can respond to what has become a defining challenge in many other democracies. I fear that opting out of this framework would create great risk and great challenges. Those who are making the case for doing so should explain to the Dáil what they would do in its place.

I go back to where I began in this debate about the many different and complex but very human issues. In the midst of this debate, let us not lose sight of having an open economy and an open society, treating others as we wish to be treated and using the fact that our economy has resources at its disposal to help those who are truly vulnerable and destitute. Let us not lose sight of all of those really important attributes of our country and society and let us locate that in this debate on pact and remind us of the need to treat those who are in those vulnerable situations with competence, fairness and compassion. It is for that reason that I support this pact.

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