Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

4. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the Government intends to hold a referendum on whether the people agree to opt in or opt out of the EU pact on migration and asylum; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17720/24]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I ask the Minister if the Government intends to hold a referendum on whether the people agree to opt in or opt out of the EU pact on migration and asylum; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I can assure the Deputy that I am fully committed to ensuring that our international protection system is robust and rules-based and that our borders are protected. A core part of my role as Minister for Justice is, of course, to uphold the Constitution at all times and I will always do so.

I believe the new EU asylum and migration pact is a game changer for Ireland. It was agreed in December last and approved by the European Parliament last month. The pact was carefully negotiated over several years to significantly reform the current approach to migration and asylum both in Ireland and across the entire EU. It will do so by providing a strong cohesive legislative framework to address the challenges we are facing in this area. It will speed up the processing of international protection applicants so we have a firm and fair system. It will make it easier to return those who are found not to be entitled to protection. It will introduce greater security checking of applicants. It will reduce the volume of secondary movement and make it easier to transfer applicants to the member states responsible. It will reduce the time people spend in State-provided accommodation and support the return of people found not to be entitled to protection.

All of that requires systemic co-operation and we cannot manage it on our own. We need co-operation and we need other countries to be willing to accept people who should not be processed here. The pact offers us all in Europe a real opportunity to work together to design a system that is fair but firm, that is based on a fair sharing of responsibility and that works for everyone.

Opting into the pact is a very positive opportunity for Ireland to achieve co-ordinated and wide-reaching reform in a key area of public interest. I can assure the Deputy that the pact does not contain any provisions that require a constitutional referendum. As measures governed by Protocol 21 of the EU treaty, the request by Ireland to opt in requires the prior approval of both Houses under Article 29.4.7° of the Constitution. The Government recently approved my proposal to seek that approval and I intend to do so next week, when we will have debates in both this House and the Seanad.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As I said, Ireland has the opportunity to opt out or opt in thanks to the people voting a second time on the Lisbon treaty, and we achieved that the last time. Even a moderate like the Polish President, Donald Tusk, is saying he will not take any. The legal basis for Ireland to opt out of the migration treaty is contained under Lisbon, as I said. I believe this is a serious violation of our national sovereignty. The decision on who we want to accept would be made neither by the Irish authorities nor under Irish law but by unelected people in the European headquarters. That is a serious situation and is why the public are so worked up about this, rightly so. It cedes our sovereignty, and the Minister cannot say otherwise. The fact is that the Government will not put it to the people and allow the people to decide. It is passing it through both Houses of the Oireachtas, where it has a contrived majority and it knows it will get what it wants, and it will limit its time in committee. The people need to have their say on this. The people rightly feel that they have this right as a result of Lisbon II, when the Government of the day was forced to put the question to the people a second time.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As the Deputy said, the people voted for the Lisbon treaty. What they voted for was the right for Ireland to opt in. The only constitutional requirement following on from that vote is that both Houses would adopt or vote on any decision taken to opt into any measure. We have done that on one occasion in the last few weeks when, with regard to people smuggling or human trafficking, we opted to engage in a closer way with our colleagues in Europol and policing systems across the EU. What we are proposing to opt into here is an updating of a system that we are already a part of. We have been part of an asylum system in the EU for many years and it has not impacted our sovereignty in any way, shape or form. We have our own laws here and we apply them. What we are trying to do, though, is become more harmonised to make sure we do not have different systems operating across the EU and so we work collectively and are able to respond collectively. I believe that is the best way to respond to what is a challenging situation. Above all, it is the best way to make sure that people who genuinely need protection in the EU get it.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Ireland or any EU country can opt out of or opt into the pact. The stark reality of the EU migration pact, which is designed to streamline so-called migration policies and address the challenge of asylum seekers, is that Ireland is ceding control over its borders and, of course, immigration procedures. Slovakia has done an estimate of the cost if it does not take in the migrants and is forced to pay €20,000 each, and it estimates it would be €7.5 billion annually. Ireland's GDP is strong at the moment, thankfully, but much of it is due to the multinationals.

We will have to pay far more than Slovakia or other countries because of our strong GDP figures. These are totally uncharted waters, which is the reason we need the matter properly debated and accounted for. Will the Minister publish the Attorney General's advice regarding her decision not to proceed to have a referendum on this matter?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Attorney General's advice is never published. In voting for the Lisbon treaty, we did so in the full knowledge that migration is an EU competence and that we can choose to opt into measures. We cannot opt out but we choose to opt in to these measures. There is nothing being forced upon us, so there is no need for a referendum.

With the figures we have for the distribution, if we were to apply this in the first year, with figures of either 648 people or €12,000,960, it would actually be cheaper for us to pay that sum than the current cost to us of processing and housing somebody for a year. That is if we take that particular timeline. When somebody comes here, processing and accommodation are a significant cost. We are talking here about a system that would mean people are here for less time. Therefore, the cost of processing and accommodating them would be much less. It should mean an overall decrease in the amount of money we spend on immigration.