Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The issue we all have is that this is not the way to deal with this type of legislation, where we are talking about building up a framework that would have a long-term impact on the migration system in operation in Ireland. As Deputy Gannon said, there were huge opportunities to deal with this at the justice committee. To do so at the last minute on a Thursday in early July does not make an awful lot of sense.

Like my party colleagues, I have a particular issue with the means by which we are talking about opting into these three motions under Article 3 of Protocol No. 21. We are signing up on the basis of qualified majority voting. We do not know exactly what will be decided, but it will be decided. We may even have to vote against it and will then be locked in and have to agree. Most frightening of all is the fact we had a fourth motion that was pulled on the basis of the complexity of the hybrid legal basis. This is a regulation that has been constructed by the Commission dealing with the likes of Ireland, the Schengen states and Schengen-associated states.

We have a very particular situation in Ireland. We are obviously still dealing with the outworkings of the evil that is partition and we have the common travel area. That makes us very different from an awful lot of places. It has been made a lot more difficult on the basis of Britain choosing to leave the European Union. We are dealing with those issues. We could have looked at all these motions, while accepting we could have done a greater level of due diligence, within the Oireachtas. We could also, having had those debates, seen how negotiations went. Article 4 of Protocol No. 21 gives us the option to opt in when we know exactly how such regulations would operate. It is about making the decision that is best for us and best makes sense in Ireland.

We accept there have been huge issues in respect of migration. In general terms, we need to make sure the migration and work permits system is well managed and makes sense from the point of view of those who come in and from the point of view of Ireland and its economy. However, we have had a particular issue with international protection. I do not know how many of us have spoken here about how long it is taking to deal with people when they apply for international protection, as they have a right to do. We need to make sure we look after those who are fleeing war or persecution, but the fact is it is taking us years upon years to deal with people. That is wrong of this State. If people have a right to be here, they should stay and if they do not have a right to be here, then they need to leave. That needs to be managed in the best way possible. It is wrong if we are taking years to get to that point.

As regards the Minister's legislation, he has spoken about his plan for a three-month turnaround for processing applications, including appeals. We are a long way from there at this point. That is the piece that needs to happen. The failure to do so has fed a lot of bad actors, so we need to make sure that is the road we go down. I would like to think we will carry out the proper level of due diligence and will not be dealing with it here in a last-minute scenario.

I have an issue with having to pull a motion out on the basis of the complexity of the issue from a legal standpoint. That says everything about the point we are at.

Sinn Féin opposed the EU asylum and migration pact. We supported opting into two measures, namely, the asylum migration management regulation and the Eurodac regulation. We all understand it makes complete sense that there has to be an element of harmony in how we deal with our European partners and others, and that we put together a sensible system that works for us. However, we have to do what makes sense for Ireland. The proposal is for an amending regulation regarding the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level. While probably nobody has a major difficulty with a lot of what is being proposed, it makes complete sense that we have control of that. The safe third country issue needs to be dealt with. Regarding those who have come from Ukraine, we need a planned transition to end what was a temporary measure that has remained in play.

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