Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)

Ireland has always been shaped by movement. For much of our history, we were a people who were forced to leave to seek opportunity abroad. However, in recent decades, as our economy has flourished and our society modernised, it has become a place where others come seeking safety, work, opportunity and hope.

I want to speak on this issue from personal experience.

I am the son of an immigrant. My mother came here from India. She worked hard, contributed to her community, raised a large family and loved this country with deep and abiding affection. She would be horrified by the rise of racism, both casual and overt. I know the positive contribution that legal, well-managed immigration brings. I have lived it and we need it in this country but we do ourselves a grave disservice if we fail to maintain a fair, efficient and respected immigration system, one that is compassionate, yes, but also transparent, timely and enforced. If we want the Irish public to have confidence in immigration, then the immigration system must be one that deserves that confidence. We need a mature national conversation based on facts, not one where genuine concerns are dismissed as racism. We have to be honest when the State does not manage its borders effectively and when processes are slower and sow doubt. It does not produce compassion; it produces false narratives and resentment and it is the extremists, the racists and the chauvinists who step into that vacuum. If we do not govern this space responsibly, they will occupy it destructively.

We also need to be frank. Many people currently seeking international protection are doing so for economic reasons. While I fully understand their desire, we cannot conflate legal and illegal immigration. It does legal migrants, genuine asylum seekers and refugees no service. If a claim is fairly assessed and rejected, then deportation must follow. This is not institutional harshness; it is the rule of law and it protects the integrity of the system.

I acknowledge and commend my colleagues, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, who have brought renewed urgency to processing and enforcement. In his speech, the Minister acknowledged his predecessor who also had initiated some change, but there has been a palpable change since he has stepped into his Ministry and it has been noticed by the public. That progress must accelerate and be sustained because if we fail to act, we do not just undermine the immigration system, but we undermine social cohesion and create a political vacuum that will be destroyed. We have seen the extreme forces who feel emboldened to try to burn, injure, maim and murder vulnerable women, children and men. The law must identify these people and deal with the perpetrators with severity.

Ireland must remain compassionate but it must be rigorous and prompt in the application of immigration laws, in keeping with our international obligations and in the common interest. To do otherwise would be politically irresponsible. As international experience demonstrates, it would fuel the rise of extremism that would undermine the confidence of people who have come here with the vital skills and energy that drive our economy and enrich our society.

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