Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Generations of Irish people were forced to emigrate to places like the United States, Australia and England as a result of famine, poverty and conflict. Irish people for the most part have made a positive contribution to their adopted lands. Often newly arrived Irish people faced discrimination, racism and ostracisation. It is not that long ago that there were signs in England saying, "Irish need not apply" or "No blacks, no dogs, no Irish". However, over time Irish people became prominent in politics, healthcare, education and the religious life of many countries around the world. Millions of people around the world can point to an Irish ancestry and take inspiration from those who were forced from their native land to build a new life in a new country.

They also found that work opportunities in countries such as Australia had the added bonus of a better quality of life. The housing crisis and the escalating cost of living in Ireland also provide an incentive for many people to leave Ireland for greener pastures abroad. Ireland, like many other countries, now finds itself with labour gaps in particular services. The most obvious example is our healthcare service. Those with the proper qualifications are providing a valuable service for communities in our country as doctors, nurses and care assistants in nursing homes.

However, the migration system in Ireland is not fit for purpose and this has led to a breakdown particularly in the decision-making process and in the application of the migration system's own rules. It is crucial to have a properly managed migration system which will then be in a better position to manage migration in a fair and balanced way. To date, this has not happened. Unnecessary fuel has been added to this fire by the lack of consultations with local communities which has led to disinformation as well as tensions in communities, all of which could have been avoided if Government had talked to the people. Decisions on migration should be taken by Irish governments and not the EU. This EU pact would cause Ireland to lose its sovereignty on this issue and this is the reason we are opposing the plan to opt Ireland into the EU migration pact.

Today many see Ireland as a land of opportunity and many of these people are genuinely fleeing war, torture and oppression. No one can dispute that those fleeing some of the most brutal regimes in the world or who are refugees from devastating wars deserve all our support and protection. It is the right thing to do and it is the decent thing to do. It has also been shown that countries with properly functioning immigration systems have prospered economically.

We are in a global economy and it is unfortunate that we have what has been described as a brain drain. Many of our most qualified as well as many of our recently qualified doctors, nurses and educators have left our shores.

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