Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin believes in common sense and common decency. These are the two points that will guide my contribution. Sinn Féin wants what most Irish people want: a system that is fair, efficient and enforced. The measures in the EU pact are not in Ireland's interests and will not deliver a system that will work for Ireland. We can better create a fair, efficient and enforced immigration system by exercising our opt-out from a majority of the pact's proposals. Some decisions are better taken locally and one size does not fit all. The Irish Government, separate from the EU, can deliver an immigration system for Ireland that prioritises compassion for those with legitimate cases while simultaneously ensuring applications are handled fairly and efficiently. That is what most people want - a compassionate system that is cognisant of the resource and capacity constraints of the country.

The current immigration system the Government is delivering does not do that, as was just ably described by a Government backbencher. It is under-resourced. It has countless loopholes, processing times are far too long, application rejections are not followed through with deportations and all the while, legitimate applicants suffer because of this. A fair, efficient and enforced immigration system is just good governance. The failure to deliver such a system has caused significant frustration among the general public. So too has the Government policy of kite-flying, denial and failure to engage with local communities when it comes to IPAS accommodation.

I have witnessed this failure at first-hand with the Government decision to identify Thornton Hall as a site. I wrote to the Government on behalf of residents in the environs of Thornton Hall and asked it why it was not upfront and honest with people about the project. I asked that it meet the community, provide information requested and answer the questions people have. There is great dissatisfaction locally with the engagement and I, like other representatives, find out details and developments from the media. This is not good enough. We know that in Ireland, the capacity constraints in accommodation, health services and school places are serious and we also know these are failures of the Government, not of those seeking asylum.

It must be for an Irish Government to decide on key aspects of our immigration system, including rejecting unsuccessful applicants sooner, compiling our list of safe countries in order that those who are not genuine asylum seekers can be rejected, and deciding which countries Ireland should take refugees from, all of which must be human rights compliant. We believe Ireland can better create a fair, efficient and enforced immigration system by exercising the opt-out from the majority of the pact's proposals, as Ireland is entitled to do under the EU treaties. It is for these reasons we oppose the Government's full opt-in approach, which gives power to the EU and will tie the hands of future governments. These measures are binding and fines can be imposed. It is also impossible to predict the future direction of migration, just as we could not have anticipated the situation we are in today. We simply do not have enough beds in our IPAS system to continue accommodating people who could be more appropriately accommodated elsewhere.

We are in a unique position in that we share a common travel area with Britain. We have considerations no other country has because we are in a common travel area. We need to ensure we have flexibility. If we are tied entirely to the EU system, we will reduce our ability to respond and legislate in a bilateral way with Britan. Alongside Denmark, we are the only country with the opportunity to remain outside all or some of these measures. We should use that ability to opt out, as is our right. By voting against the vast majority of this pact's measures in the European Parliament, we are signalling Ireland is better off outside of them. We can create a fair, efficient and enforced immigration system without interference from Brussels. Ultimately, we must assert that many decisions are better taken locally and that one size does not fit all. We want a system that recognises that each member state is different and faces different pressures at any given time. This is an important issue of sovereignty. It must be for an Irish Government to decide on key aspects of our immigration system. These are not matters for the EU to dictate to us. Sinn Féin will vote "No" to this proposal to opt Ireland fully in to the EU asylum and migration pact because we must retain our sovereignty over these matters if we are to have an immigration system that is fair, efficient and enforced.

To address the point with which I opened my contribution, the call for common sense and common decency, people can advocate for a sensible and workable system and we can have a detailed debate on this, but it has to take place within the parameters of decency. Unfortunately, a portion of those contributing to this debate, both here in the Chamber and outside it, are poisoning the well. They seek to sow division and to capitalise on it. Many are in the pay of far-right actors in Britain and America. They store up hate and get rich on the proceeds of that hate. Their actions have created a cesspit on social media and have spilled onto the streets. Verbal racist abuse is now committed daily and racially motivated assaults are on the rise. In March, a person was killed. I will not say much because I know a court case is pending, but the media reports of what transpired are more than chilling.

I am very fortunate to come from a family where we were raised knowing it is not good enough to just not be a racist. We must be anti-racist. When South Africa had an apartheid regime, my family were members of the anti-apartheid movement. We campaigned, marched and stood with Mary Manning and the Dunnes Stores workers and with their union on the picket line, and I am very proud of those activities and proud to have taken my daughter and, indeed, my grandson to similar marches. It is not enough to not be racist; we must be anti-racist.

I have noticed recently, however, a decided change in the discourse. We only have to look online to see the vile, disgusting abuse to which Rhasidat Adeleke has been subjected to see how cruel, dehumanising and downright disgusting racism is. The rise of fascism across Europe is very real and we would be naive to sit in this Chamber and pretend it is not. We are not immune to it. We would be very foolish and very naive to think that somehow we are. We must confront this. We must call it out every time.

We must call racism out when we see it whether it is on public transport, in a WhatsApp chat, in our sports clubs or on the sideline when children are playing football, as I witnessed recently. Wherever we see this racism, we have to call it out. It is not good enough to just not be a racist and to go home and say, "Well, I am not a racist, that is grand", we must be anti-racist. Compassion, human rights and fairness has to be at the heart of a system that is rules-based and where rules are enforced and, therefore, we must opt into those elements that are beneficial to Ireland and opt out of those that are not. That is simply common sense.

We must also conduct this and other debates with reference to decency. We hear people in this House and outside refer to numbers and to "these people" and "that group". These are human beings. They are mams, dads, sisters, brothers, uncles and friends, the same as we are. These are human beings and their treatment - the handing out of tents, moving people around - is contributing to a very poisonous and dangerous public discourse that we as leaders in our own communities have an obligation to call out.

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