Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I very much welcome that we will have statements on migration this afternoon. With the permission of the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, will jointly open this debate with me. It is particularly welcome that we are discussing in this House the issue of migration. It is an extremely important national and international issue that requires policy decisions and the expression of values by political leaders such as ourselves in this House.

When we are discussing migration it is important to note that we are not simply discussing emigration or immigration; we are talking about both. If it was the case that we were here 60 years ago and the topic of migration was on the agenda of Dáil Éireann, I suspect we would have been talking about the terrible emigration that took place in Ireland for many years. Today, we are also talking about emigration as statistics for last year reveal that approximately 70,000 people emigrated - left Ireland - last year. The more predominant type of migration now is immigration. Last year, approximately 150,000 people immigrated into Ireland. That is an indication of the transformation in the success of Ireland as a country. For far too many years, we lived on an island where people were forced to leave because of economic circumstances in order to get a sustainable life. The fact that now has been transformed, and more people want to come into Ireland than leave it, is a reflection of the success of Ireland as a country. The reason people want to come here is that there are opportunities for them in Ireland and it is recognised as a safe, peaceful and successful country with a very strong economy.

I will also reflect that when we are talking about migration we need to put it in context. The context has to be the demographic context of our population. As I said a few moments ago, if we were back in Ireland in 1841 and filled out the census, we would find out after filling it in that the population of the island of Ireland back then was 8.2 million people. Tragically, we went through the seminal event in Irish history in the 1840s with the Irish Famine, and in the aftermath of the Famine more than 1 million people had died and many millions and future generations had emigrated from Ireland and gone abroad. That resulted in our population still being in decline in the 1960s. The population of Ireland back in 1960 was 2.8 million. When Northern Ireland, which was partitioned a number of years earlier, is included, the population was 4.3 million. Even today the population of the Republic is approximately 5.4 million and when Northern Ireland is included the population is up to approximately 7.3 million. Today, when so many people want to come to the country and are in the country, Ireland, as an island, is still not as populated as it was back in 1841. That is something we need to reflect on. We need to recognise that the drop in our population was a reflection of very negative times in Ireland and the rise in our population is, to a large extent, a reflection of the success of Ireland.

Part of the reason the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I wanted this topic to be on the agenda for the first week of the Dáil's return was because both the Minister of State and I were very concerned and appalled at a number of incidents during the summer months when members of our migrant community were attacked. I had the opportunity, as did the Minister of State, to meet representatives of the Indian community and it is fair to say they were very shook by the incidents that occurred. They were very offended by it and when they met me they wondered what they or any migrant had done to merit such a criminal and appalling attack. I emphasised to them that, in my assessment, the Irish people are very welcoming of the people who have come into this country. Along with the Minister of State, I want to emphasise that migrants who are in this country lawfully are extremely welcome in this country. It is very important that message gets out there.

Similarly, another important message both of us want to communicate, however, is that when it comes to immigration we have a rules-based system. In order to come into Ireland, people have to comply with the rules and if they comply with the rules, they are extremely welcome here. However, if they do not comply with the rules, we will just have to enforce the rules to ensure we keep control over our migration system.

I reflect on the fact that approximately 15% of all nurses and midwives working in Irish hospitals at present come from India. We have a very significant number of people working in our health service who play a significant role. It is worth pointing out that in 2023 more than 23% of all nurses and midwives directly employed by the HSE were migrants, with nearly 15% of them coming from India.

In 2023, nearly four in every ten doctors registered with the Irish Medical Council were trained outside Ireland, and one in four were trained outside the UK and the EU. These numbers illustrate that the health service is very much dependent on the excellent work provided by migrants who have come to Ireland to work. It is not just our health system, however, that is dependent on migrants who have come here to work. If we look at our construction sector, statistics produced in 2023 showed that in that year, there were 27,500 migrant workers in Ireland’s construction sector and that is a significant increase on what it was a number of years before this. On many occasions, I am in this House answering questions about when prisons, Garda stations or houses are going to be constructed. We cannot construct that level of infrastructure unless we have workers here and that is why it is important to acknowledge that many of the workers involved in the construction business in Ireland are migrants who have come here to work.

Of course, that leaves aside the many people who have come here from other countries to work in our booming technology sector and in the multinational sector that is so happily based here throughout the country.

In terms of the contribution that migrants have made to Irish society, it is important to emphasise that people who are here lawfully make an extremely strong contribution and they are welcome by the vast majority of Irish people.

Obviously, migration can give rise to challenges as well. One of the big challenges that a government, political leaders and all of us in the House face is to try to ensure that migrants who come in to the country are fully and adequately integrated. Regrettably, we have seen in other countries what happens when migrants who come into the country are not integrated and feel as though they are a separate group within the country. That is not good for society or for migrants and it would not be good for the Irish population as a whole. For that reason, it is important to emphasise that the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and myself are currently working on a national migration and integration strategy. It will set out how this Government intends to meet the opportunities and demands facing our society and economy over the next decade. It is important to point out that this is the first time such a strategy has been undertaken and we are determined that our approach to migration is rules based, planned and coherent. I emphasise the reason it is so important that we have and apply a rules-based system. If you do not have a rules-based system, you have a discretionary system that is based upon ministerial viewpoint or executive decision and that will necessarily end up being a system that the public cannot properly understand, supervise and see how it operates. It is extremely important, therefore, that we have a system of rules in place in Ireland that indicates when a person is entitled to come into Ireland, how long they are entitled to stay and what the consequences are if they overstay their welcome. I am not aware of any country in the world which does not have a rules-based system that needs to be applied when it comes to migration. It is also extremely important that we let the word get out that we have a rules-based system. As people in this House will know - nobody knows this better than constituency TDs - there are people in this country who want to exploit the position of immigration for their own political purposes. We need to stand up to that. My own view is that the best way to stand up to it is through facts and by being able to state we have a rules-based system. If people comply with those rules, they gain entry. If they do not comply with the rules, they have to leave. Once we have those rules in place it is much easier to defend the system and the public are very concerned to know that the Government and the Ministers, namely myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, are in charge and have a recognition that the system is being applied effectively.

As I mentioned at the outset, the challenges derive to a large extent from population. The numbers immigrating into Ireland are small in the context of, say, a country such as Germany or France but we are a small country which has a population of approximately 5.4 million at present. We also have a tendency sometimes to reflect on a certain element when it comes to immigration, ignoring the fact that most migration into Ireland derives from those who have been granted a visa to come here lawfully. At the outset, I will give some statistics in respect of where we are at present with Ireland's population. As I said, our population has recovered significantly and has been growing since 1960. Notwithstanding that, this is giving rise to challenges because in the last number of years our population has been growing at an extremely fast rate. In fact, our population at present is growing at seven times the EU average, which is very significant. The effect of it is that in the year up to April 2024 the population of Ireland increased by approximately 98,700 people in a period of 12 months. That is very significant population growth and it derives from the following. We had a birth rate of 54,200 and a death rate of 34,800 in the year up to the end of April 2024. We also had immigration into Ireland of 149,000 people. I will break down that figure as it is important we have the context in terms of the demographics for the discussion we are having this afternoon. Some 30,000 of the 149,000 people who immigrated into Ireland were Irish citizens who were returning; 27,000 were EU citizens; 5,400 were UK citizens; and 86,800 people were from other countries. Those are the 149,000 people who immigrated into Ireland in the year ending April 2024.

Similarly, we also had 69,000 people who left the country during that 12-month period. Of those, 34,700 were Irish citizens; 27,000 were EU citizens; 5,400 were UK citizens; and 21,500 were citizens from other countries. It is important we get that demographic context out there for the purpose of discussing migration. As I say, it is a positive news story that in Ireland we have changed the narrative from people leaving the country and having to go elsewhere to get their successful life to people who now want to come in to Ireland. The reason they want to come in is because we are a very successful country and a very successful economy.

The majority of the people who come into Ireland come in on the basis of visas that have been granted by my Department. In 2024, there were approximately 201,000 applications of all types that were received by the Department of justice. Of those 201,000 applications, 150,000 visas were granted. Many of those visas are short-term visas - some are nine-month visas - but there is also a significant number which are student visas. Approximately 61,000 student permissions, as I call them, were issued in 2024. To date, in 2025, there are more applications that are coming in for visa-sought migration. The Department of justice has got much more efficient in considering and processing visa applications and I am pleased to say it is much faster than it was. Nonetheless, each visa application has to be considered carefully. I know sometimes this can create annoyance in the House and Deputies frequently come to me asking me to speed up a visa application. I have no objection to people doing that, by the way, as it is part of my function. However, those people need to recognise that there is a process in place. It is a rules-based system and those rules need to be applied.

Therefore, the main type of migration into Ireland is visa-granted migration and I have provided the statistics. There are two other types of migration into Ireland which have got significant attention in recent times. The first is temporary protection. As Deputies will be aware, for the first time, when Russia invaded Ukraine back in 2022, the European Union triggered the temporary protection directive. The effect of that was that individuals who left Ukraine after the date of that war and went to another EU country could apply for temporary protection. If they received temporary protection it would entitle them to apply for access to accommodation and give them access to the work force as well. We have seen that since the war in Ukraine, approximately 114,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection have arrived in Ireland. They have been granted temporary protection here. The number has declined noticeably since those people arrived and at present 80,000 PPS numbers remain active for beneficiaries of temporary protection as of March 2025.

That is one type of migration into Ireland, which is temporary protection. Then there are international protection applications. That is probably the type of migration that gets most of the coverage even though accounts only for a not small but limited percentage of the numbers of people arriving in Ireland. It is true that in recent years the number of people applying for international protection has increased significantly. I will give some of the statistics because it is important for the context of this debate. In 2019, a total of 4,700 people arrived seeking international protection in Ireland. Obviously, during the Covid years of 2020 and 2021, the numbers were small at 1,500 and 2,600 but then in 2022 and 2023 we had 13,500 people applying for international protection in each of those years. Last year 18,500 people applied. The numbers have reduced this year but the consequence of high numbers of people coming in seeking international protection is that there is an obligation on the State, as there is on other EU countries, to provide accommodation for persons who are coming in here. That has been a politically contentious issue and has given rise to concern in communities. The Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, will speak in detail about that issue of accommodation. There is a policy in the Department at present to try to reduce the costs of international protection accommodation. The main way of doing this, and we cannot sugar-coat it any other way, is through the numbers of people arriving into Ireland claiming asylum. We need to get those numbers down. I say this in the knowledge that of the people who arrived in 2025 and claimed asylum over 80% have been rejected in the first instance. We need to recognise that fact.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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As the Minister of State with responsibility for migration, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak this afternoon on what I believe is one of the most important issues facing our country, which is migration. As a Government we need to address this. We need address it with the spirit of integrity and of compassion, and with a rules-based approach, as the Minister said.

One of the things that we here in Ireland have learned really clearly is that whether it is emigration or immigration, migration shapes a nation. It has a huge impact on it. I am sure that all of us here recognise, and certainly the Minister and I do, the incredible contribution that migrants make to our country. Every day they are contributing right across our economy and our neighbourhoods. We also understand that migration encompasses a range of legal, social, economic and humanitarian challenges. In dealing with that we have to have a firm, fair and effective system. This is imperative to maintaining public confidence in our immigration system. This, however, must also stay true to the values that we hold of openness, human rights and international solidarity.

In the face of these pressures, I acknowledge the great work being done across government and especially within the Department the Minister and I are leading. We have introduced new work permit schemes and we have streamlined residency paths to ensure we can attract the best talent. This also continues to ensure our country's economic growth. We have expanded into the international protection system to increase the speed with which asylum and decision-making takes place. We have invested in services for newly arrived migrants and refugees to support integration.

One area I want to acknowledge in particular is accommodation. Providing accommodation for people applying for international protection is an obligation for us under Irish and EU law. As the Minister said, Ireland saw unprecedented surges around 2022 in the number of international applicants. This does not happen just here in Ireland: it happened across all EU member states and internationally directly after the pandemic. The Russian invasion of Ukraine saw a massive humanitarian response right across Europe. This resulted in 110,000 people coming to Ireland fleeing that conflict. Ireland responded, as one would expect, in a comprehensive manner and it supported tens of thousands of people, either directly or indirectly, with accommodation and other supports.

These parallel events placed pressure on accommodation capacity over the past three years and we acknowledge that this has been felt right across the country. Among those wider changes in migration patterns into Ireland were those events of the invasion and the inward migration after the pandemic. These contributed to a change in public discourse and attitudes. They have had a real impact, which we have seen right across our local communities and throughout Ireland. Specifically on accommodation, 90% of our current accommodation needs in this regard are commercially provided through contracted service providers in the range of settings we are all familiar with such as hotels, guest houses, self-catering accommodation and former commercial properties. Most of that capacity was added to the system post-2022. The demand for accommodation for Ukrainians has actually reduced significantly over the past year to the extent that many former accommodation contracts have ended, including almost the entirety of the student accommodation centres that were originally involved. This is freeing up much-needed accommodation this September for college students. There are still 23,000 people from Ukraine in State-supported accommodation and many more are receiving payment under the accommodation recognition payment, ARC system. While the demand for IPAS accommodation remains high the rate of increase in new applications for international protection has reduced since October 24, as the Minister outlined. The State is currently accommodating 33,000 people in over 320 IPAS centres around the country, 9,000 of whom are children and families.

The Government's current focus for international protection is to develop more State-owned accommodation in a range of sources. We are committed to building sustainable systems to reduce our reliance on commercial providers. In an important step in implementing this strategy the State recently purchased the Citywest hotel and conference centre for €148 million. That purchase, over 25 years and with an operating cost model, will offer savings of over €1 billion while delivering a permanent State asset. Now we have approximately 4,000 beds being directly provided on State-owned lands. This is an increase from a figure of just 700 in 2024. We have further potential purchases we are considering, and alongside that we have the possibility of identifying State-owned sites for viability for modular and prefabricated accommodation.

The Minister mentioned the facts around IPAS centres and it is important to have that exact figure: while 3% to 4% of non-Irish citizens who are living here in this State are in IPAS centres, the vast majority are here working and contributing. They have come to make their lives here. They have come here because we have asked them to come to provide essential public services in our hospitals, tech companies, construction industry and so many other areas. They are contributing on a daily basis. We must constantly be aware of and recognise that.

With regard to IPAS centres, I will be looking at developing a contribution model for the cost of accommodation. After five months people can apply to work, and if they are still in an IPAS centre after six months they can work. If people are earning and paying income tax they can make a contribution to the cost of their accommodation. I will bring forward proposals in this area to the Government.

Before I finish I want to speak on one issue, which is the troubling rise in far-right agitation and racism we have seen in recent times. There are people who seek to instill fear and division and to exploit what are the legitimate concerns of communities. They do that for very dangerous reasons. This is something that all of us here must firmly reject. We must support the proper use of our national flag. One must respect the flag. Our flag is a flag of inclusivity not division. We should recognise this and always make that point.

I believe fundamentally that our response to migration should always be rooted in truth, in empathy and in the significant area of unity. We need to encourage local communities to play a central role through education, leadership and shared experiences. When people meet and talk, when people have an opportunity to work together and to be educated together then there are no grounds for conflict. I urge Members in the House to take a moment to reflect on whether we are doing enough here to foster that respectful dialogue in this space. I encourage everyone, as part of that conversation here today, to be inclusive, to be respectful and to help shape an Ireland that we can all be truly proud of and that reflects the best traditions of our hospitality, our fairness and our hope.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I join with the Minister in unreservedly condemning the deplorable and disgusting racist attacks that we have seen over the past weeks and months.

I welcome this debate, first as an opportunity to make that point but also because it provides an opportunity to address the reality that immigration needs to be managed, and to recognise that the Government has largely failed to do that. When it comes to migration, what we have seen from Government is an absolute failure on every front. Níl aon phleanáil déanta ag an Rialtas maidir leis an imirce ach tá Sinn Féin soiléir go gcaithfear í a bhainistiú. As with so many areas of public policy, successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have stumbled from one crisis to another, and likewise with immigration. There has been no planning and no recognition of the challenges. There has been a failure to listen to communities and far too little support for integration. The Government's handling of this issue has badly undermined public confidence, particularly in our international protection system and in the immigration system overall. It has allowed communities to be targeted by those who are seeking to sow division.

The context in which we discuss migration is the overall failures of this Government and successive Governments, particularly in areas like housing, economic inequality, tackling deprivation and addressing wage inadequacy. We cannot look at migration in isolation. The Minister talked about the long history of emigration from Ireland. That was largely due to the failures of successive Governments. How immigration is managed has to take into account our needs in terms of workers for key sectors such as health but also challenges including the housing crisis and the capacity of public services, as well as a humanitarian response to those who are fleeing war and persecution.

The international protection system has been in crisis mode for years. The time taken for decisions to be made is still far too long. Decisions, including deportations, are not being enforced and there has been massive profiteering from the provision of inappropriate IPAS accommodation. The Government has stripped many communities of having any real sense of agency or being part of the decisions that shape their own areas, particularly when it comes to the location of IPAS accommodation centres. Sinn Féin is very clear and unapologetic in saying that IPAS centres should only be placed in areas that have the resources to accommodate them. That means not in areas that are already struggling. There should be an end to the planning exemptions for IPAS and Ukrainian accommodation centres. That was a temporary emergency measure. Above all, there has to be transparency and accountability with regard to IPAS contracts. Profiteering has to be stamped out.

This year, an estimated €1.2 billion will be spent on IPAS accommodation. Hundreds of millions of euro more will be spent on accommodation for Ukrainians. A small number of private operators have made millions of euro because of the Government's dysfunctional approach. On top of that, there is no transparency, including around what qualifies some of these operators to provide these services. Figures revealed to me in a reply to a parliamentary question show that the average rate paid per bed per night rose by 68% between 2022 and 2024. The level of profiteering is scandalous. We saw, in 2024 for example, two directors of a company called Igo Café Limited. That was a café that turned into IPAS accommodation providers, one of the largest beneficiaries of State contracts. The two owners paid themselves €4.6 million.

Other notorious examples that illustrate why a full examination is needed include the case of where millions of euro in taxpayers money were paid for IPAS accommodation to a company that was owned by a man named by the Criminal Assets Bureau as being linked to gangland crime. Meanwhile, we know that the Department of justice continued to lease accommodation from a company called GoodPeople Homecare Limited, which was found to have supplied fake Garda vetting clearances to Tusla. Now it has emerged, in another response I received to a parliamentary question from the Department, that the Department continues to use this company for vulnerability assessments of applicants for international protection, and that this is due to remain in place until next year. How can the Minister stand over that? There is an urgent need at this stage for a review of all IPAS and related contracts that have been granted. This involves a lot of public money. The least the public deserves is maximum transparency and accountability.

The Minister referenced that earlier this year the Government supported the extension of the temporary protection directive to 2027. In our view, it is well past time that emergency measures were ended. There has to be certainty for everyone involved. The Government has also allowed the Ukrainian accommodation recognition payment to remain in place despite the fact that it is clear that there is an impact on the private rental sector and it is unfair because it is not means-tested like any other housing support. It has allowed landlords to receive large tax-free payments while freeing them from any of the usual obligations they have with any other tenancy. During the summer recess there was at last some recognition from the Government that, as I and Sinn Féin have long argued, the scheme is having an adverse impact on the private rental sector. If the Minister finally accepts this is the case, then surely he will also accept that the scheme has to be limited to those currently availing of it who actually satisfy a means test; that it is limited to those who are housing Ukrainians in their homes, very laudably, but not using houses that should be on the private rental market; and that the practice of top-up payments to hosts should also be banned.

The Minister referenced international students, and again, the approach to stamp 2 student visas is symptomatic of the Government's hands-off approach to the management of immigration. The fact is that to date, there has been no Government analysis of the impact of any form of economic migration on accommodation or services, and that includes student permits. Universities, which are starved of funding, have become increasingly over-reliant on overseas students because they are paying much higher student fees. Other private colleges, we know, have been created solely for the purposes of making profits from international students.

Some other businesses facing ever-increasing costs themselves have become dependent on low-paid, non-unionised workers, including those here on student visas who can work part time. Managing immigration means that careful consideration must be given to a balance of factors with respect to the numbers of work permits and student permits that are issued. It is grossly irresponsible to encourage increased numbers of international students, including English language students, to come here at a time the Government has created a crisis in student accommodation provision. What results from this is the exploitation of those students who come here, who then often find themselves jammed into overcrowded and inappropriate accommodation while working in low-paid, precarious jobs. We have to examine the number of international students coming to Ireland as part of the overall management of migration. We also have to address the situation where more student places are being put aside for international students simply because of the underfunding of universities. This is having consequences in a number of areas. The Irish Dental Association has called on the Government to limit the number of non-EEA students because it is having an impact in terms of the shortage of dentists across society.

Immigration must be managed and that should not be a controversial thing to say. States all over the world, including those with left-wing governments, unapologetically set the rules for entry into their countries and then enforce those rules. The truth is that in Ireland, economic migration has been guided only by the needs of corporations without consideration of other important social goals. It is absolutely logical and sensible - in fact, it is crucial - that issues related to low pay, downward pressure on jobs and the availability of housing is considered when deciding the number of employment and student residency permits issued each year.

The Government's handling of migration has been an inexcusable disaster. Through its failures, it has let down those who have come here and it has let down existing communities, many of whom have been left feeling voiceless. At the heart of Sinn Féin's approach to migration is our belief that the State has an obligation to manage immigration, not just to allow it to be set by market forces. We believe that at every level, the system has to be clear, fair and transparent with rules that are enforced. The gross profiteering and enrichment of individuals who have become millionaires due to Government incompetence must be stamped out. In the provision of IPAS and Ukrainian accommodation, communities must have a say in what is happening in their areas. There must be proper support for integration and to tackle racism. Policies that lead to resentment and unfairness must stop and that includes the accommodation recognition payment, which provides a non-means-tested housing support to one set of people that is not available to others equally in need of housing.

As this State grapples with the ongoing crisis in housing and with public services under pressure, the need for better planning across all aspects of housing policy, including ensuring that immigration is managed, has never been more urgent. Sinn Féin will continue to set out our proposals in this regard, guided by our anti-racist principles and determined to ensure migration to Ireland is managed in a way that enriches our country and those who come to our country. That is where we need to go.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Déarfaidh mé cúpla focal san am atá agam. There is no doubt that the Government has mishandled migration, particularly international protection. In doing so, it has ignored and indeed antagonised communities and driven a wedge between people. Real damage has been done on the ground and it is going to take a long time to repair. It will not be the Government picking up the pieces; it will be community workers, activists and ordinary people who do this day in day out. People on the ground will have to deal with the damage and the level of mistrust in this Government that has been caused over the while. There is no doubt that there are bad actors exploiting all of that.

However, the Government's role in this is not a good one. We have seen unsustainable numbers of people applying for asylum over the past three years. The Minister's figures showing that 80% are rejected in the first instance is an example of that. However, this has been obvious to everyone for the past number of years. Hotels have been taken over, town planning systems have been cast aside and instead of the Government in the past saying that this was unsustainable and instead of actually fixing the system by speeding up the processes and ensuring that deportations were enforced where they were required, what we had was commentary saying that this was the new normal.

We need to have a serious conversation about the actual causes that led to these levels of migration. There is no appetite for that conversation within this Government or indeed across Europe. We saw that with the disastrous migration pact to which the Government has signed us up. It totally ignored the root causes. If European states were serious about reducing the number of arrivals, they would stop selling arms to dictators and oppressive regimes. They would review all EU trade deals and practices that disadvantage poor countries and keep them poor and they would tackle the illicit financial flows to stop hundreds of billions of euro flowing out of poor countries and into European banks. However, that is not the conversation they want to have. For our part, we opposed the migration pact because we knew it undermined sovereignty. It allows European governments and this Government to pretend that they are doing something.

I said at the start that the Government has mishandled the issue of migration. My own county of Donegal is a good example of that. Donegal captures the failures of this Government on this issue probably better than any other. It is the most deprived county on the island of Ireland. It has the highest unemployment rate, the highest levels of deprivation and the least disposable income in the State yet it has the highest levels of IPAs and of those seeking temporary protection for Ukrainian international applicants than anywhere else in the State. It has the highest number of people benefiting from the accommodation recognition payment, ARP, system. How does a system like this come to pass? How does one of the poorest and most neglected counties in the State end up with the highest concentration of people who themselves are under serious pressure? It is because the Government does not have a plan. This Government and the past Government in which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were involved, allowed for speculation and profit to be the main driver in this. Sinn Féin made it clear that the location of these centres should not be in disadvantaged areas that do not have adequate resources. That applies equally for Coolock and Cloughaneely. We have had a developer-led approach looking for higher profits by getting sites in disadvantaged and rural areas.

It is a year and a half ago since I stood here and proposed amendments to the Government in relation to the ARP scheme. At the time, I told the Government it was putting pressure on the rental sector. I said it was completely unfair for the State to pay the rent of somebody who was working in the factory while the person who was working beside them in the same factory, earning the same wages, had to pay their own rent. It is completely unfair. Yet, the Government not only renewed it that time but renewed it again since. That system is unfair. Since that time, 16 months ago, there has been an explosion of ARP accommodation in my own county of Donegal. It has gone up by three times. It went from 600 units to more than 2,000 today. It is no wonder that people come knocking at my door or go to other TDs saying they cannot find rental accommodation. Yet, 2,000 properties have been found for Ukrainians who need accommodation and they are being paid for by the State. There is a resentment in relation to that. That is not a situation that was fostered by Ukrainians. It is the Government who designed this scheme, which is wrong.

There has been no considered management of migration that takes into account the ability or the capacity of communities to integrate those who make their homes here. Migration must be managed in the best interests of the people of Ireland. It needs to take into account the needs of workers in key sectors such as health and the challenges in capacity, housing and other public services and the humanitarian response to those fleeing war and persecution.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I join the Minister in condemning the spate of racist attacks that we have seen in recent weeks and months. I am concerned across the political spectrum in many ways with respect to the approach to migration and immigration particularly and about some of the language being used. It sounds to me that we are almost in an arms race to the right in this regard. By legitimising the language and the modus operandi of the political right we are never meaningfully going to address any of the issues or concerns that people might have in respect of migration or immigration.

My party was one of the first political parties to bring forward a policy paper on migration in 2023. Migration has always existed and always will. The question we face as policymakers is how best to manage it to ensure a well-functioning, regulated system. I agree with the Minister on the need for a proper and transparent rules-based system. However, the reality is that people move. They move for a variety of reasons: some for work, some for love and some for safety. They move to make a better life for themselves and for their families. All of us as human beings want the same things: a good job, a secure home and most importantly, a safe life.

Global forced displacement is at a record high. Almost half of the people who flee globally are actually children. Most of those who are forced to move are not in or anywhere near Ireland. They are in poor and developing countries, which have shouldered the majority of the brunt of forced displacement. Global instability has contributed to a substantial increase in the numbers seeking international protection in Ireland. The numbers have risen from just under 5,000 in 2019 to more than 13,000 now, yet the direct provision system remains in place despite a commitment by the previous Government to abolish it.

Many communities throughout Ireland have been strong in the welcome and support they have provided for refugees but many of these communities, including communities I represent in Limerick, have been targeted with misinformation or disinformation. This has been worsened by a failure of both Government and State agencies to communicate properly with communities. Let me state first that nobody has a veto over where anybody can live, but we need to see local authorities, elected representatives and community representatives included early on in the information-sharing process. Local communities should be clearly informed of the additional resources, funding and services that will be put in place to support refugees and international protection applicants. We also need a robust campaign to combat fears, stereotypes, tropes and racism amongst the public in general. We need to see a national counter-disinformation strategy, which is in the programme for Government.

We need action in regulating social media and digital platforms. They are breeding grounds for hate. Minority communities are relentlessly targeted online and there are no consequences for those responsible. TikTok and X are consequence-free sewers for those who want to perpetuate racism and hate. We have also had at least 31 buildings burnt down with little or no consequences.

I was only elected in December of last year. On no less than four occasions since last December we have had a literal ring of steel around this place due to far-right, anti-immigrant protests, with people looking for us literally to be hung outside this very door. It has been terrifying at times. The fact of the matter is that these protests are organised on X and TikTok. There is a call to action and they are often live-streamed for hours. Yet, there are no consequences. Until we take on these social media conglomerates, we are at absolutely nothing. We need the EU Commission and Commissioner Michael McGrath to use the forthcoming democracy shield legislation to force social media companies to dismantle the recommender system that promotes hate and disinformation. They are actively pushing this at people.

I am sick and tired of seeing a minority of people take our national flag and seek to bastardise it.

They cannot be allowed to do that in our name. Our flag is a symbol of unity and peace and should not be used to sow hate and division. I urge everybody and all of us to take back the flag because the immigrant community in this country are afraid. There was a well-documented case in Dublin, in the Minister's constituency. I know of a concerning recent case where a Pakistani doctor working at University Hospital Limerick was subjected to a racially motivated physical assault. Our hospital is built on the backs of these people. If they decide to leave, we will be in serious trouble. The doctor was left feeling very vulnerable and abandoned after the attack.

Since the nineties, immigration has transformed this country into one in which one fifth of the population were born overseas. Is that not miraculous when compared with a country that, 40 years ago, was the sick man of Europe? Unfortunately, the housing crisis, which the Government has perpetuated, is fuelling misdirected resentment towards immigrants and asylum seekers. We need to be better at tackling this. We need proper anti-racism education. We also need proper hate crime legislation, which the Government has parked. People need protection from verbal and physical abuse based on ethnic, religious and cultural background. It is for us, as politicians, to show leadership on this. Every individual elected to the House has a responsibility to not perpetuate the spread of hate. Particularly in a position as privileged as the one we are in, we should not be stoking anti-migrant rhetoric. Repeatedly questioning the rights of people who have come to Ireland to seek international protection or for other reasons has real and harmful consequences for real people who live among us. People should not feel emboldened to harass or attack others based on their perceived race or ethnicity. I am calling on the Minister to fully enforce the hate offences Act of 2024, which provides for increased sentences for offences aggravated by hatred, based on characteristics such as race, religion, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics. As I said, we must update the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act to reflect the realities of online hate speech. We need full implementation of the national action plan against racism.

There are some welcome commitments in respect of integration in the programme for Government. They include references to the need for more investment in State-owned centres for staffing and providing emergency accommodation to everyone. However, the majority of commitments in respect of immigration and migration in the programme for Government are restrictive. A focus on restrictive measures will not solve the long-standing issues we have.

The fact of the matter is that this county is at boiling point. I do clinics every week, as do many of my colleagues. I deal with housing in the vast majority of cases. The amount of misinformation and disinformation I have to tackle, day in and day out, is frightening. It is frightening because so many buildings around this country have been burned down with little or no consequence for those who did it. We need a well-managed migration system - that is a fact - but we also need to ensure, as politicians in positions of leadership, that we are careful, measured and responsible with the language we use. I have been in this Chamber a number of times since last December and I have heard people say things and make statements. I have heard them use Leaders' Questions as a forum to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment. It is not acceptable and people, if they do not, should know a hell of a lot better. All across the world, the right is on the rise. Anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise. We need to ensure that whatever we do in this House and this country, we do not make the situation worse.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I share the concerns about, and condemnation of, the attacks about which we have heard in recent months.

In response to the Minister's opening statement, I welcome this debate. It is good that we are having it. I commend the Minister on the focus and urgency he has brought since his appointment in January. His approach has been, frankly, a breath of fresh air: practical, evidence-led and rooted in fairness to applicants and to communities alike. I echo his sentiments in respect of the rules-based system, which is essential.

Let us be honest about how we got here. After the Covid pandemic, international travel resumed, war returned to Europe and secondary movements across the EU accelerated. Ireland experienced a sharp surge in applications for international protection. To put the numbers on the record, there were 2,649 applications in 2021, 13,651 in 2022, 13,277 in 2023 and 18,561 in 2024, the highest on record. This year, to the end of August, there were 8,258 applications, which is down approximately 41% to 43% on the same period last year.

The causes are well-known and include the reopening of borders after the pandemic, conflict-driven displacement and the interplay of policies within the common travel area and across the EU. As the Minister noted, Ireland’s economic success has also acted as a magnet for skills and opportunity. This rapid growth put real pressure on the State. Accommodation costs in the international protection accommodation service have risen from €129.4 million in 2019 to a projected €1.3 billion in 2025. Nearly 33,000 people are accommodated across 320-odd sites across the country. That is a steep fiscal curve by any measure.

The decision to purchase Citywest Hotel, with a capacity of approximately 2,300, moves us from high-cost leasing to a State asset with an estimated payback of approximately four years and savings of €1 billion across 25 years, while enabling a 13-week end-to-end processing model on site. This is the right strategy. We need to move away from the private model.

We must also acknowledge the social impact. Trust in the system was damaged in parts of the country. Irish people are very generous, but we like to see things handled properly. I want to put on record my appreciation for officials working in extremely difficult circumstances. At the same time, there were cases where communications with communities and public representatives were poorly handled. We need to rebuild confidence by engaging earlier, sharing clear information and ensuring infrastructure and services are planned alongside accommodation decisions.

Since January, the Minister has set a different tone and delivered measurable change. Staffing at the International Protection Office has been scaled up from approximately 212 in 2022 to over 600 full-time equivalents this summer, driving more decisions and helping to reduce the backlog, as the Minister outlined earlier. A new immigration customer service portal has 145,000 registered users, 111,000 queries resolved and 60,000 registration appointments made, bringing transparency and basic customer service into a complex system. First-instance outcomes to 31 August 2025 resulted in 81.5% refusals and 18.5% grants, reflecting the mix of cases now being decided more quickly.

Crucially, enforcement credibility has been restored. Signed deportation orders are up this year to date and voluntary returns have increased with enhanced packages. There is stronger border control at Dublin Airport, with 4,154 doorstops to the end of August. The result is that applications are down over 40% in the year to date. That is cause and effect that people can see.

The public understand that no Government can turn on a dime, but they want proof that the wheel has been gripped and that the Government is in control. The figures I have cited demonstrate progress. We have further to go, and we will go further. On Europe, ultimately, Ireland cannot stand alone. A rules-based, shared system is the only sustainable path, as we have discussed in this Chamber over many months.

I travelled to Brussels earlier this year to raise and discuss these issues with Commissioner Michael McGrath.

I welcome the practical turn now under way via the EU migration and asylum pact and Ireland’s national implementation plan, approved on 25 March 2025.

The pact provides faster, fairer, more coherent processes across the EU, accelerated border procedures with three-month decision timelines, increased co-operation on returns, the use of safe-country and safe-third-country concepts, and better data-sharing to tackle abuse. Ireland will transpose this through the International Protection Bill 2025, which, among other changes, will reduce oral hearings at appeal while preserving the rights to be heard and to an effective remedy. The pact comes into effect in 2026, and our job is to be ready.

It is important also to note what the UN is saying. Just this morning, the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection stated deportations are a “critical element” of a functioning asylum system. It is about a fair, efficient system people can trust.

Alongside protection, Ireland runs significant legal routes for those who come here to study, work and join family, as outlined earlier. In 2024, there were 60,901 student permissions. Visa and permission decisions exceeded 150,000. These routes are essential to our economy but we also need to be honest about capacity. Housing, schools, GP numbers and transport cannot expand by magic. As a small, open economy, we should prioritise sectors that are mission-critical to both competitiveness and community well-being, healthcare, elder care, and house building, in particular, so that migration actively helps us clear the most pressing bottlenecks.

The programme for Government commitments remain clear: reduce reliance on hotels; develop State-owned capacity; require contributions from applicants where appropriate, in respect of which I welcome the Minister’s commitment today; and where there is an unsuccessful application, the person must leave, as the Minister has outlined. That is the architecture of a system that is not just fair but also seen to be fair.

I will finish where I began. The Minister has set a clear direction and the early results are visible: more decisions, firmer enforcement, fewer unfounded applications and a pipeline of EU-level reforms that will standardise good practice across the EU. There is more to do – on appeals timelines, on integration pathways and on honest, two-way communication with host communities – but the ship is turning. In Ireland, people are very generous but we just like to see things handled properly. With this approach – faster, fairer, firmer – we can protect the integrity of the system, support those fleeing danger and give our communities confidence that migration is managed, not accidental.

I support the Minister’s programme and look forward to working with him and his colleagues across the House to deliver the reforms, capacity and clarity the public rightly expects.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I am really glad to have the opportunity to speak on these statements this evening and that the Minister is in the House to listen. My home town is Ballaghaderreen, west Roscommon. This is an issue I have raised repeatedly since my being elected in 2020 because our town was one of very few in the entire State to take in Syrian refugees back in 2017. It welcomed and gave céad míle fáilte to the refugees, who arrived in their hundreds. Indeed, hundreds have gone through the town’s reception centre, which remains open to this day. I could never understand why we were allowing and actually ensuring tension and anger in the community by not simply putting in, Department by Department, the resources needed for both the existing community and the new one. By not doing that, both suffer. That is the reality.

In Ballaghaderreen in 2017, funding came from the Department of justice for a new childcare facility. That was later pulled. A primary care centre was first promised way back in 2012, but because of the severe capacity issues affecting both GP practices in the town, both of which have had a waiting list for a long time, we are now back to square one. It has not been delivered and is once again going to tender. What happened was of great frustration to me in that it was not rocket science for each Department to say, if putting X number of people into a rural town, the town in County Roscommon with the highest level of deprivation and unemployment, that it would support that town, the new community and the existing residents. It could have been a blueprint, for the rest of the State, for what could and should have been done but was not done. Not doing it and not putting in place the required resources and services is what causes the tension and anger. These are totally avoidable, regardless of where the town is and what its situation is. Unfortunately, the resources were never put in. Luckily, funding for childcare was got elsewhere, and the project will proceed. It is desperately needed.

The circumstances of the primary school in Ballaghaderreen are similar. There are almost 30 different nationalities in it. It waited and waited and eventually got planning permission in July for 12 new classrooms. The works need to be progressed very quickly. I hope the lesson will be learned that towns that welcome and do right by people should be supported. That was not the case in Ballaghaderreen. The reception centre is now seeking an extension, and the planning application is with the council. Again, mistakes have been made by letting down good towns, towns with good communities that struggle as it is. They were really let down by the Government.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I stand to speak on the statements on migration. There are many wonderful aspects to it. I would like to talk about the experience and enhancement of communities the length and breadth of the country, but there is also something we just cannot step away from at the moment. Things feel different. It feels like the racism has increased and like the fear in the communities who contact my office has started to become a lot more palpable. We are witnessing attacks on the street and the targeting of people because of the colour of their skin and the sound of their voices. As we talk about migration, we cannot step away from the fact that we are actually talking about people who have come here in search of safety and are living in genuine fear.

We barely had a far-right movement in this country only a few years ago; however, through the action or inaction of this Government and the one before it, it has been allowed to soar. I appreciate that this is not reflected at the ballot box or anything like that, but it is reflected in the movement we are seeing on the streets and in how it is mobilising and becoming better organised and how its actions have become a little more insidious. We cannot say we did not warn that this was happening. Community groups said it and activists came to our offices. We in opposition brought it to the Chamber and talked about it consistently. It seems different now, does it not? It seems like there is a foothold. The Minister was warned. When the Tánaiste decided last year to punch down and scapegoat migrants for the housing crisis, we warned the Government. Deputy Jim O’Callaghan, as the then Minister for Justice, spoke on national radio about the deportation of children and adults. We said to him even then that the manner in which it was done and the championing of it in the manner of a general coming back from war, as it was described at the time, reverberated beyond the message he was trying to send. It emboldens. It tells those same people who are trying to spread fear that they are winning, which makes them become more emboldened and more vigorous in their efforts.

When the Minister watered down the hate speech legislation, stripping it of its core protections, we warned that it would embolden those spreading hatred. We are now living with the consequences.

More than one in three hate attacks reported to the Garda last year was racially motivated. There were 264 racist incidents in a single year, up 24% since 2021. These are only the incidents that were reported. We know there is under-reporting. Those affected are people who are beaten in our streets and parents who watch their children being assaulted and told to go back to where they came from. Workers are abused on buses, and nurses finishing night shift are terrified of walking home. Experts have said plainly that racism is becoming more aggressive, more obvious and more brazen because people feel emboldened to engage in it. Who has emboldened them? It is a result of the choices made at every level. I am referring to a Government that has put political expediency over leadership, used the language of division instead of solidarity and decided that telling migrants to be gone is to be championed rather than tackling its own failures. These failures include the failure to implement the recommendations of the Catherine Day report. So often we talk about the IPAS centres, but where are the State-run reception centres? How often have we come into this Chamber over the past five years and called for these failures to be addressed?

The far right did not appear out of nowhere; it was given space to grow because of how others were scapegoated and how vulnerable and neglected communities have been left in the lurch for decades.

Instead of resourcing housing, healthcare and public services, a narrative was allowed to take hold that it is the migrant who is to blame, not the State. In many ways, that suited a State that was, for too long, indifferent to the fear of those same communities.

We need to get on top of what is becoming an increasing problem. People have already been attacked. That will only become increasingly worse.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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I listened to the Minister's opening comments. I lost track of the number of times he said the phrase "rules-based system". In talking about international protection, some of the words I did not hear in his comments, or when the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, provided more focus in his comments, were "compassion", "trauma-informed", "gender-specific accommodation" or any of the actual compassionate, humanitarian, dignified elements of an international protection system towards which we should be striving. None of those words appeared. All we have heard about from this Government since it came into power are the restrictive measures it has brought into the international protection system. That seems to be its entire and sole focus in terms of international protection. As we have heard from a range of speakers today, all that does is feed into the far-right rhetoric that is growing in society, which brings anti-migrant sentiments right into our mainstream population. That is what it does.

The other thing the Minister failed to mention about this rules-based system he talked about is that those rules are rules the Government has set. They do not even meet the obligations we have under international law, never mind domestic law. When will we get to a point where we are actually speaking in reality about the experience of people who come to this country, in their most vulnerable situation, seeking our humanity and help? What we are seeing is a direction of travel, and the EU migration and asylum pact will only bring us there more quickly, that denies the right to asylum and brings people into detention and de facto detention. All along, all we are seeing with all of this is bringing us into a situation where the Government is emboldening and fomenting this incredible anti-immigrant sentiment in our society. Tá dualgas orainn mar ionadaithe poiblí seasamh in aghaidh an chiníochais agus in aghaidh scéalta chailleach an uafáis.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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I will use my time to show appreciation and give thanks to two groups in my constituency in Dublin South-Central, Inchicore For All and Dublin 8 for All. These two groups have been working to ensure that people coming to this country seeking protection are welcomed, supported and feel part of the community.

Inchicore For All was set up to support several people and families who arrived in Ireland and are temporarily housed in the area. Since its establishment, there have been picnics, summer trips, international food events, parties, training and a freecycle so that things can be donated and shared. Young people and children have made friends and have all become involved in sporting groups and other activities. Dublin 8 for All has held parties, events and gatherings since it was founded. However, it had a very tough number of months, with the erection of an encampment in Dublin 8 beside several schools to protest against an IPAS centre. Dublin 8 for All worked with people from the encampment, councillors, TDs, gardaí and Dublin City Council to try to create calm and ease tensions.

Both these groups are run by volunteers. They are people with big hearts and kindness. They have so many ideas and such a great amount of energy. They provide safety, support, laughter and fun in our community. Friendships have been formed and strength has been built. I thank them and say "Well done" to them for that work. They have made Dublin South-Central very proud. These groups exist out of kindness, but on the other side of that they are there to create protection from a small but loud group of people who are hell-bent on creating hate and division in our community. Let us not forget how many Irish people are currently living, to provide themselves with a better lifestyle, in Dubai, Australia and lots of places. We have to remember that.

Climate change will challenge us with migration in a way we have not seen. We must plan for that.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Sometimes, politics is not just about what you say and how you say it. It is also about what you do not say. What I have not heard today from the Minister, or anyone in the Chamber, is that compared with most other European countries Ireland has a relatively normal level, or even low level, of migration, particularly on the international protection side of things, at 1.2% of all applicants across the EU. The reason it does not feel like that to many people out there is that the Government has completely failed to put in the services and resources to ensure there is sufficient, proper and inclusive integration of people when they come to this country. That is why it feels so significant to so many communities out there. The Government was not prepared.

The reality is Ireland is a very wealthy country and migration will continue to be a feature of our lives, but the Government has failed to forward plan and make sure we are in a position to do that. What that failure means now is that in the country we love, and where we are so proud of the welcomes we provide, we are changing. An element of change is coming into our country. We are seeing people being attacked because of the colour of their skin, their accent, what they are wearing, or if they have dark hair or dark eyes. That is not the type of country we want to be. We want to be an inclusive, welcoming and fair country but what we are turning into, because of the Government's policies and those of previous Governments, is a country living in fear. We will be very divided. This will not get better and the Minister shaking his head will not help.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I am disagreeing with you.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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He needs to wake up, take responsibility and make sure that he provides the leadership we need to see so that we can deal with this issue properly and fairly.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I will start by distinguishing something that is not distinguished enough in public discourse, namely, the difference between immigration and migration. Very often, when I deal with people on these issues, they do not necessarily make that distinction. Immigration, or people who come here to work, live and contribute to our society at lots of different levels, includes people we absolutely need. They keep our hospitals running and our hotels, restaurants and communities busy. At a time when we have full employment in this country, thank God, we are very lucky to have communities that are willing to come and work here as part of an immigration process complete with visas, permissions, etc. Some of them are European Union citizens. Many of them are from outside the European Union but wherever they come from, when they come here to work in our bars, restaurants and, particularly, hospitals, in home healthcare services, in assistance services at all kinds of different levels and in our schools, we are so lucky to have those people. That is the immigration system.

Parallel with that is the migration system. This includes people who probably have not come here by choice necessarily. They have come here because of some upheaval in their own countries or some situation that makes it dangerous, unpalatable or even impossible for them to live where they have come from. They very often come from war-torn areas, or from communities where there is massive discrimination against them because of their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender. As part of that migration system, they come here seeking international protection. They are the people who most people see as immigrants, when in fact the category is much wider than that. They are people who come here seeking the protection of Ireland.

The irony is that we as Irish people have benefited from similar protection across the world for centuries. Everybody in this Chamber will have family members who live in other countries, be it the United States, or the far side of the world in places such as New Zealand and Australia, European countries and across the world. They live there because they went there seeking a better life or, in some instances, they went there seeking protection because situations in this country were unpalatable, for a variety of reasons, over the past 150 to 200 years. They were brought into those communities as guests and given the protection of those communities. It is a consequence of our success as a country that the duty now falls to us to give that temporary, and maybe sometimes longer term or even permanent, protection to people who are in exactly the same place our forefathers were at the time of the Famine and persecution in this country when they went abroad. The role now falls to us to look after those people who come here.

The difference now is that we benefit from a very substantial and complex, but also comprehensive, international rules-based system for how we deal with people who come here. That is the international protection system that manages those people who come here seeking what we used to call asylum and is now known as international protection. They come here and there are criteria they must meet to be allowed to stay here. If they stay here, it is technically, certainly initially, on a temporary basis until such time as they are in a position to return to their countries.

Equally, we all recognise that for somebody who comes here, receives international protection, lives and works in this country or who might be born in this country if their parents were in that situation and has gone through school in this country, it does not always make sense for them to return to the country from which their family came.

What is most important is that we use that international rules-based system to process those applicants and, most importantly, do so in a swift way. This has not been the case for a long number of years. I am sure the Minister will acknowledge that he benefits from the foresight of his predecessor as Minister, Deputy McEntee, who massively increased the number of staff available in the international protection office such that those applications that were taking years to process a few short years ago are now being reduced to terms of months. This is exactly as it should be. That is fair not just to the people who live in this country and are entitled to have certainty for those coming in seeking international protection but, perhaps more importantly, to those seeking international protection. It is not fair for people to come here from a war-torn country or a place where they were being persecuted only to be told they must wait years for a decision about whether they can stay, leaving them in a limbo where, for a long time, they could not work, though now they can after six months. It leaves them in a situation where their future is totally uncertain. That is not fair. That is why we need to accelerate the processing of international protection applications and give people clarity on the decisions regarding whether or not they can stay here for the duration of that persecution or the instability in their home country.

While they are waiting for that process, we have obligations not to ignore or abandon them but instead to ensure they have safe places to live. That is what the international protection accommodation service is for. That is probably the system that has created most controversy with people. I say this with respect to all those working in this area. It is a programme that has been mismanaged. It has been particularly mismanaged from a public information perspective. We have been far too afraid to be honest with communities around this country and to be up front with them in saying, "Here is what we are planning to do. Tell us what you think. Tell us what you think the downsides are. Tell us what you think the pitfalls are. Tell us why you think it's a good idea or a bad idea or whatever it is." The reality is that those sitting in a Department in Dublin cannot know every corner of the country and every community. They cannot know if the Department purchased a hotel in an area where that is the only place where tourists can stay. They cannot know the effect that will have on the local community. There has been far too much centralised paternalism in Dublin in terms of being honest with communities, asking them and talking to them about what is proposed. Fundamentally, Irish people are genuine, generous and welcoming people. That is our history and there is ample evidence to support the fact that Irish people are happy to open their doors to communities who come here with genuine issues in their home countries, to accommodate and look after them and let them form part of our communities for however long it is they must be here. What has happened, however, is that those communities have been left in the dark. They hear rumours that an IPAS centre is going in here, there are X number of people coming in here and they are coming from a totally different background - they might be from a different religion or whatever it is. This breeds mistrust - mistrust between them and the Government but also mistrust between them and the innocent people who are fleeing persecution who come to live in their communities. Let us be honest with the Irish people and talk to them about what is actually happening.

Every Member of this House will have had a situation in their constituency where a rumour goes around, be it founded or unfounded, that some centre is going in here. In that context, we as representatives need to be honest with people in our communities and constituencies. We need to be honest about what the actual effect of a community like that coming into our constituency is. The complaints that are often made to me are that people are in fear. They fear that if a community of single men is moved into an area, they would not be able to let their daughters out. I do not think those people are racist, but I do think they are ill-informed. Every statistic will show that the vast majority of people charged with sexual crimes in this country are Irish - even in terms of the proportion of the population that are Irish. The incidence of crimes involving international protection applicants is minimal compared with those involving Irish people. Let us be clear about that. It is the gap of information that allows it to be filled by people with nefarious intent with lies just like that.

The other concerns mentioned to me relate to healthcare. It is a case of, "We cannot get a date with our GP. We cannot get into a GP's surgery in the local area so when these extra 50 or 100 people come into our community, where are they going to get healthcare?" That is a legitimate concern. The Minister and I have an IPAS centre between our constituencies or in his constituency and at the edge of mine. The number of people who will fit into that will need healthcare. One of the things I have said repeatedly to the Department is that we need to provide on-site healthcare for those people. We cannot expect local GP services to absorb them. They do not do so in any event because they do not have the capacity. Let us deal with legitimate concerns like that and actually address them with practical solutions.

The other issue people raise is education. When children are coming into IPAS centres, where are they going to continue their education? We cannot abandon them. They must continue to have education, if only to equip them for the temporary situation they might be in. That duty falls on local schools. Teachers tell me, "I am already up to my gills dealing with the 20 or 30 students I have in my class. I cannot take in six students who might not have English. I cannot deal with the extra resource implications of that." I understand what those teachers are saying and I understand what the parents of the children in those classes are saying. Let us provide a practical solution for those legitimate concerns about the accommodation of international protection applicants. Let us say we will provide dedicated educational opportunity for those people on site if they have no English or, where they go into the local school, let us provide that school with the additional resources that are needed.

It is not okay to abandon this. It is not okay to leave an information vacuum. It is not okay to not be honest with the communities we represent. Let us trust them to acknowledge the duty we have as a wealthy First World country. Let us trust them, with the generosity we know they have, with the real information about what is happening and the consequent resource applications that are required.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Migration has become a touchstone issue in Irish public discourse. Too often, it is used as a wedge issue - a tool to divide communities, to stoke fear, to sow hate and to distract from the Government’s failures. In my experience, people who come to Ireland from abroad make an enormous contribution to our society. They work alongside us in hospitals and care homes, in our schools, in construction, technology and hospitality. They are neighbours, friends, team mates, fellow parishioners, partners, colleagues and carers. All of us, if we think for a moment, can name people from other countries who have given outstanding service to our families, our communities and Ireland as a whole. We are a nation of welcomes and we value them as part of our society. Is tír na chéad míle fáilte sinne. Cuirimid luach orthu siúd atá ina gcónaí inár measc agus ag cur lenár bpobail.

Sinn Féin is crystal clear that there can be no tolerance of racism or xenophobia. There is no space in our society for violence or hate. We have experienced xenophobia abroad and sectarianism at home. We must be able to talk to one another about migration in a way that is honest, respectful and productive. We must support communities and support integration. We need a proper and adequately resourced strategy that begins at community level and provides resources for schools, clubs and community groups and much-needed investment in community infrastructure across rural and urban Ireland.

The Minister must acknowledge that Government failure has created fertile ground for division. Decades of underinvestment in housing, health and education have left our public services under severe pressure. Communities that already struggle for GPs, school places and affordable rents are asked to carry the can for the lack of planning at national level. That is unfair to those communities and to those who are seeking a new home here. Government has failed and is continuing to fail and our communities are the ones paying the price.

The international protection system is not working. Decisions and appeals take far too long and profiteering by unscrupuous IPAS accommodation providers has been allowed to run unchecked. Billions of euro are being spent on contracts with very little transparency while some private operators enrich themselves. This undermines public confidence and it undermines fairness.

Sinn Féin is calling for a full review of IPAS contracts, an end to profiteering, and proper planning in the siting of accommodation guided by need, capacity and the availability of services. We need to end the policy of handing over more powers on migration to the EU and instead make decisions that reflect Ireland’s unique circumstances, including the outworkings of Brexit and the common travel area. Above all, we need leadership - leadership that is fair, transparent and rooted in the best of our values. That means standing up to racism, tackling profiteering, resourcing integration and managing migration in a way that protects for all our people regardless of their background.

That is Sinn Féin's vision and mine. It is a fair, managed and humane migration system, one that strengthens communities rather than dividing them.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It is important we are addressing this issue on the first week back, especially after the summer we have had, which saw communities, particularly the Indian and southeast Asian communities, targeted for both verbal and physical assaults in a number of locations across the country. I represent Dublin West, which is an extremely vibrant, extremely diverse part of Dublin and one where we have communities from many different countries. Over the course of the summer I had the opportunity through canvassing and local events to talk to people specifically from the Indian and south Asian communities and hear of their experiences. While they remain committed to Ireland, feel welcome and feel part of this society, everyone I spoke to reported increased levels of verbal abuse in terms of what they experienced themselves and what their children and family members experienced as they travel around. An email I received from a constituent particularly struck me. It was from a woman here from Pakistan. Her partner is Irish and the pair of them were walking to Coolmine train station one day, hand in hand, when a gang of young lads spotted them and started to use various racial slurs. She is from Pakistan and we can all guess what exactly was said. What struck me most about her email was she was not surprised. This has become normalised for her. She had baked this sort of experience in. Overt racism is now a regular experience for this woman.

That represents a change in Irish society. There has always been racism in Ireland but I do not think 15 years ago people would have been as blatant as to just corner someone walking in the street and start this sort of racist abuse. There has been a change and the online space is a major driver of that change. The hateful rhetoric we see people being bombarded with is a key part of driving this change. A Cheann Comhairle, you opened the Dáil yesterday talking about what we need to do there and I welcome your initiative. We need to look strongly at the recommender systems these online platforms use. This is not about restricting free speech as this material will still be available online. People can still search for it and decide if they want to turn the algorithm on so they receive this material. It is not, therefore, about limiting free speech but about giving people freedom of choice in the content that arrives in their feed. I would hope that when we talk about this issue we can look at these recommender systems and at turning them off.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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Over the summer there was a series of attacks, apparently particularly directed against the Indian community. We had the case of an Indian man in Tallaght who was attacked, beaten and humiliated. He had clothing removed from him and there was the age-old racist trope of accusing somebody of colour of being violent. They were trying to accuse him of being a paedophile and there was absolutely no evidence of this, as the Garda said. We also had a six-year-old girl pushed off her bike. Her mother is an Indian nurse here. There are countless reports of similar incidents. Even the other day I had a report of an attack in a playground in Tyrellstown on somebody of colour and obviously I am going to look into that even more. The worrying trend is children and teenagers are involved in some of these attacks. That speaks to how they are imbibing racist ideas from older people, social media and the world around them.

It is not a new phenomenon. The Indian community I have spoken to would say it is completely underreported. In the last number of years people just have not bothered. The Minister must take note of what is said in every forum I have been in, which is that gardaí are very dismissive when these incidents are reported to them. They just want to whoosh them out of the station. There is no record, seemingly, kept in many cases and that was a widespread complaint. I am asking the Minister to meet representatives, to hear that and then to take it up with the Garda. There should be a record kept of racially motivated incidents.

I am running out of time but I want to say a couple of quick things. People who are in this country and working here are living in fear, including taxi drivers and nurses. Obviously this is strongly coming from the far right, but it is coming from within the system as well. “Stop the boats” came from the Tories. There are actions this Government has taken or failed to take, like allowing our housing crisis to not be dealt with for so long. Growing inequality just allows fertile ground for the far right.

I will mention some TDs in this House who were using the exact same language as the far right. I noticed "The myth of multiculturalism ... [and the] spiral of violence", "... a semi-utopian belief that Irish and European societies can ... integrate irreconcilable and overtly hostile value systems" and "One culture enshrines equality ... the rights of LGBTQ people [and the other does not]". This was said on the Independent Ireland website by Deputy O'Flynn.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputy's time is up. I call Deputy Stanley.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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It is very important we call that out-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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You are sharing with your colleague. You are running down his clock.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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------that they are also echoing the far right as well.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you. I call Deputy Stanley.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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It is five seconds. I am about to stop.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. On the attacks on the Indian community, I have many Indian neighbours in the housing estate I live in. Most of them are working in the health services and they are doing great work and are very good people. We need to counter these racist attacks on them. We need a fair, efficient and rules-based immigration system. The current system is chaotic and inadequate. Those who are genuinely fleeing war, persecution or famine must be granted protection. Racism directed against them must be rejected. Those who do not meet the criteria for international protection, as the Minister said, have to leave. According to figures he gave, four out of five applicants in the first part of this year were failing their first assessment. That means changes are required to the system. It also means the 20% who pass the first assessment are not getting the assistance they need because the resources are not there for that. It is clear the list of so-called safe countries needs to be expanded. I mean this is in a fair way because there are more than 11 safe countries in the world. Those who are coming from safe countries are, as we know, less likely to be granted international protection. Assessments need to be quicker to be fairer to the applicants. They need to be done in three or four months, not three or four years, and appeals in cases that fail need to be done in a shorter timeframe.

In any case, there needs to be a shorter timeframe. People should not languish for years in direct provision centres. When I was Chair of the public accounts committee I was told by the Secretary General that a person was in it for 15 years. What is that about? If a person’s application and appeals fail, they have to leave the State. Their departure must be verified, but that is not happening. When I asked the question at the public accounts committee the Secretary General told me the person gets a letter to their last known address. That is it. He told me that last year. It is on the record of the public accounts committee. If that is the system, it is not a system that is working. Those who are granted international protection must be assisted in every way possible. This is key. We have to help these people integrate and live here with training, work and other supports to ensure those who are genuinely fleeing war, persecution or famine are assisted in every way possible. Racism must be countered and that has to start in the schools. Parents have an obligation here as well. The Day report recommendations need to be implemented so we have a smaller number of large reception centres and people are transitioned quickly. Instead, we have applicants living in old pubs, converted shops and substandard accommodation. This is becoming big business and we must move away from it.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Migration has always been part of Ireland's story. For generations our people went abroad seeking work and opportunity. Today people come here for the same reasons, namely, safety, jobs and a chance to build a life. It is important to say migration is not new for this country and given the current climate of the globe I do not believe it is going away.

It is important that we distinguish between what we might call normal immigration - people who come in, apply for a work permit and work and contribute to this country - and those who are fleeing persecution and seeking asylum for various reasons. The real issue here is how we manage it. Managed well, migration is positive, and strengthens our economy, our health service and our communities. Managed badly, it creates division, waste and a loss of confidence.

I want to be really clear about something I have watched over the last few years and I know the Minister is acutely aware of. It is the rapid increase in spending on IPAS accommodation, going from €130 million in 2020 to over €480 million in 2022 and in excess of €1.2 billion last year. We all know this rate of increase is not sustainable but I understand that it was in response to a crisis. The numbers had risen very quickly and had to be managed. My problem with how quickly the money was spent is that the financial procedures appear to have gone out the window. There was no public procurement and every IPAS centre was set up on an expression-of-interest basis. Essentially, whoever could provide the beds quickly enough got the contract, which was wrong because such big money is at stake here. It was wrong that that scale of money was paid out with no proper financial procedures in place. As a member of the public accounts committee I am looking forward to officials from the Department of justice coming before the public accounts committee to discuss how they are rectifying it now. That was a couple of billion euro in just a few short years. It has just left frustration in communities and we still do not have a sustainable system in place. There is a lot of work to be done there.

It is important to say that migration as a whole is not the problem. The problem is the lack of a rules-based system and the absence of forward planning, clear procedures and accountability. A fair system must mean two things: efficiency and humanity for applicants but also fairness for communities being asked to absorb the pressure. The community recognition fund has been widely welcomed across the country and has played a really important role in recognising the efforts of communities to integrate asylum applicants while they are with them in their community.

I know the Minister is working to accelerate the speed at which applicants are dealt with. Ultimately, nobody deserves to be left in a hotel unable to work and not receiving very much support. The reality is they need to be dealt with swiftly and a determination made. If somebody is permitted to stay, work and contribute, they get to do that, but if they are required to leave because they are not entitled to seek asylum in this country or they have not come through the proper channels, they must ultimately leave.

What failed was not foresight. We knew there would be pressure from the war in Ukraine and from international protection, but instead of structured planning the State went from one emergency to another and was a essentially firefighting. I know I am hammering on that point, but it is important that we put in place the structures. There has definitely been a marked improvement in the last few months.

I want to turn to a local example in east Galway. The Merriman Hotel is the sole hotel in the village of Kinvara in south Galway. It is a beautiful village with great people and has always been incredibly welcoming of asylum seekers. From 2019 and for many years the Merriman Hotel was an IPAS centre. However, its contract has been renewed for another two-year period which has really hurt the community. There was an expectation that this hotel would be brought back into use, providing a venue for tourists to stay as well as a venue for weddings, confirmations and christenings - everything that goes with a small village. We now have IPAS applicants staying in a hotel and tourists staying in homes and Airbnb accommodation, resulting in a mismatch. I know that the State is moving to acquire more State accommodation centres with the State as the provider so that we are not negatively impacting small villages and towns disproportionately. People in Kinvara are hopeful that the hotel will be returned to the community in the future and it will serve its function again. I hope to work with the Minister on that.

I want to talk about the positive contributions of migration and particularly migrants who are living in our communities and contributing day in, day out. They play a huge role in Ireland and are a huge strength to Ireland. Our hospitals simply could not function without them. Work permits in health and social care have more than doubled since 2020, which is welcome because people in Ireland need care and I am grateful for all of the people who do that. In my community in Athenry, people from all over the world contribute immensely to our town and make it a fantastic place. Migrants staff our building sites, the food sector and tech firms. They start businesses, they pay taxes and contribute every single day. In Galway alone, work permits have quadrupled since 2009.

Migration drives growth but growth without planning causes strain. Our housing, schools, transport and water systems have not kept pace. That is not inevitable; it is the result of poor planning. It is our responsibility to go forward and make sure that where we have seen increased population growth, we react. We need to put in place the investment in the national development plan and encourage the growth to continue. I believe Ireland as a country will be a great success into the future but only if we manage the growth correctly.

Where do we go from here? The choice is simple. We can continue with emergency responses, spending billions on hotels with no transparency and communities left behind or we can build a firm and fair system that is rules based, accountable and sustainable. That means investing in housing, schools, transport and services. It means proper procedures on spending and it means treating applicants with humanity while also ensuring communities are not overburdened. Migration will remain a part of Ireland's future and I am proud of that. The challenge is whether we face it with planning and fairness or keep repeating the same costly mistakes.

The Minister has taken steps in the right direction, which I really welcome, but delivery will be crucial. A rules-based system can restore trust, protect communities and allow migration to be the positive force we know it is, we know it can be and we know it will be in the future.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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For too long Government policy on migration has been a story of reaction, crisis and abdication of duty. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have allowed our system to be dictated by profiteers and unchecked market forces, utterly failing communities and those seeking protection alike. Our international protection system, for example, is not fit for purpose. Decisions and appeals still take far too long, enforcement is weak or non-existent and a small number of private operators are making many millions from inappropriate accommodation. There is a complete lack of transparency and Sinn Féin demands a full review of all IPAS contracts to end this disgusting profiteering.

The Government's decision to sign up in full to the EU migration pact was a mistake. We said it at the time and we maintain that position. It handed over power on migration and undermines our sovereignty to make decisions based on our unique circumstances. Similarly, the extension of the temporary protection directive without discussion is not sustainable. We need a planned approach that provides certainty and a return to ordinary rules.

The Government's failure to plan has stripped communities of agency, stripped them of their voice and created a hostile environment which is exploited by those intent on sowing division. That said, there can be no tolerance for racism. There can be no place for racism in Ireland. Sinn Féin believes in a better way. Migration must be managed in the best interests of all who live here. That means ending section 5 and other planning exemptions for accommodation, linking accommodation location to services and capacity, and proper community engagement. It means a real integration strategy built from the ground up. It means tying work and student permits to the realities of our housing crisis and wage pressures. We need a system that is fair efficient and enforced, and based on the capacity of our communities.

It is in the best interests of everyone to have a system we can all have confidence in that protects us all. It is the only way.

I heard some commentary and criticism of a rules-based system. We need a rules-based system. It needs to be such that people have confidence in it because people have a lack of faith in the system. They see it being used by a small number of people to make a huge amount of money. They do not have confidence in it. We need a system that people have confidence in and that assures them that those who coming here to contribute to the economy or are entitled to protection that the system can provide them with that. We need people to have confidence in the system.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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The population is now more than 5.4 million. Last year, over 25,000 immigrants arrived into this country. That is a net figure of more than 60,000 people. In one year, that is equates to the population of Sligo, Ennis and Castlebar. Yet, this Government has failed to deliver the necessary infrastructure to sustain that level of development. Over the past five years, just over 100,000 houses were built, with a net migration figure of almost 400,000. This is basic arithmetic that the Government fails to understand. It is very frustrating for people right across the country.

In the past number of weeks, students across Ireland have found it incredibly difficult to find accommodation. When we drill into the numbers, we see that the universities are engaging in a very expansionist approach to the international student cohort. Over 40,000 international student visas issued, representing an increase of more than 30% in the past four years. Almost 40,000 working visas were issued last year. Ten years ago, that figure was about 10,000 per year. We all are aware of the massive acceleration and surge in IPAS numbers. It is very simple: the capacity of the economy is simply unable to cope with this huge increase. A Savills report recently outlined that the ratio of housing delivery to population growth was 1:4, which represents one of the worst ratios in the western world. Yet, the Government and many in this House fail to recognise some of the issues before us.

If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. On the issue of migration, that is what successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have done. The Government has no plan. It has created chaos in housing and services and for the wonderful families and young people across Ireland. It is unacceptable. Essentially, its policy amounts to pouring a gallon into a pint and it is unsustainable.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I welcome all my colleagues back after the recess. I wish them success from now until the end of the term. I was listening to the debate in my office while doing my constituency work. I have listened to the Minister’s speech. I noticed when I was entering the Chamber that my name was taken and used by another colleague, Deputy Coppinger, along with some lines. I do live rent free when she is not playing the victim of someone else. I must remind the Deputy, when she talks about people in Independent Ireland being racist that one of her party’s candidates spat in the face of a Jewish gentleman, which is currently being investigated by An Garda Síochána not so long ago

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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In that case, Deputy, it might be better not to discuss it.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I am not mentioning the person but it was a candidate from her party who participated in that.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy, please.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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No Independent Ireland candidate ever spat in anyone’s face or made racist remarks to anyone. We only hear such stories from the far left.

In a manner reminiscent of those who were warned of consequences of unbridling immigration in decades past, let us be frank: a nation that does not control its borders loses control of its future. We have witnessed in this situation the inflow of people not matching the outflow of facts.

Today, the Minister spoke about the Irish people who travelled abroad and our proud history in that regard. We do have a proud history in that respect. Irish people travelled abroad with their passport in their hand, however. Irish people travelled abroad to America, Canada and Australia not with the hand out, but looking for the hand up. They worked hard and diligently and never asked for anything. There is a big difference between that and a lot of the people coming into this country and what is being provided to them. The argument the Minister makes about our proud history of emigration and migration is a little bit different from the facts of what is happening today in this country.

The Minister and many Members talk about all the good things, and I appreciate there are good things. Some 95 languages are spoken in Cork city in Apple in my constituency. I am married to an immigrant, a Spanish gentleman, who lives in Ireland and has actually become an Irish citizen since. I understand and enjoy multiculturalism. What I do not enjoy, however, is people entering our country without a passport, presenting themselves with no information or us requiring no information about that.

Is the Minister aware that someone entered this country and when questioned at Dublin Airport and asked how they entered the country, which is a simple question of a set of standard questions set out by the his Department, replied, "Hot air balloon”? Is it acceptable for anyone who is respectfully entering a country without a passport or any identification to be so flippant and blasé about entering a nation, while requiring accommodation, food and sustenance from that nation? It is unacceptable for a person to be so flippant to use the phrase, "I entered by hot air balloon. That is how I came into Ireland." That person should have been turned around and put on the plane back. That is the reality of it.

Members have spoken about how everything is rosy and marvellous in the garden-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputy's time is up.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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----- but it is not true.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I call Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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If the Minister goes down to Mallow to see what is after happening in my constituency-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Your time is up, Deputy.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I apologise.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter. First, I wish the Minister the best of luck.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I do not think I was in front of you before this so the best of luck. The reality of immigration is that, at the moment in Ireland, we are building 30,000 houses. There is a huge shortage of houses. Look at the numbers of people who are coming in both through legal and illegal immigration. We are scratching our heads when people want to come to work. Let us bear in mind, we need people working. We need them in hospitals, hospitality and in all the different sectors. When employers go through that process, it is so cumbersome. It is basically stalling people from being able to produce the goods in different places because they do not have enough staff. At least they know who they are and where they came from. People have to make sure they give them a proper wage and that everything is above board.

The sad reality at the moment is that a person coming to this country is better off coming in through the illegal system. If a person comes to Ireland illegally, he or she can work after six months, whereas another person could be trying to come in for a year and still not get through the process.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputy’s time is up. I call Deputy Michael Collins.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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We need to make sure that we tighten this. The court system needs to be sped up to make decisions-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Your time is up, Deputy.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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-----and not hold things up for four or five years on people who are coming here about whom we know nothing.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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Communities are concerned. These are not racist people but people who have legitimate concerns in their communities. The European Union cannot dictate how many people can come to this small island. Independent Ireland Councillor Linda de Courcy pleaded for answers from this Government, through me, about Citywest a number of months ago. No matter what I asked, I never got an answer until the deal was signed. The concerns people had were legitimate. These facilities in Citywest have been central to Ireland’s response, but questions remain unanswered. I am calling on the Minister to clarify who consulted the community groups, elected representatives and NGOs, and when those engagements took place. We need transparency on occupancy levels, the categories of residents housed, the services provided, staffing numbers and the total cost to the State over the past four years.

I also ask for details on the recent expression of interest process, how many responses were received and whether these sites were referenced and what areas were proposed. Contracts governing these facilities must be published, including clauses ensuring compliance with planning, fire safety and building control laws. Has the Department verified these requirements? If the use of Citywest is to become permanent, we need to know the intended use of the surrounding land and whether further development is planned. These are legitimate questions that should have been resolved in the local community before anything ever started, but they were not.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Migration must be managed in the context of Ireland. We should not simply allow it to be determined by global and domestic market forces. The Government must manage migration in a fair, efficient and enforced manner that has the best interests of the people of Ireland front and centre. The Government must consider Ireland's needs in terms of workers for key sectors such as health. I visited Galway hospital last year. I did not see one Irish person working there and I could not have been looked after better. The healthcare that was provided to me was very good.

We must also put this into the context of the housing capacity and the capacity of public services. The reason we have capacity problems in housing, health and public services falls squarely on the shoulders of successive Governments, not on those who are coming to this country to make a better life for themselves. It suits governments if certain sectors of society point to migration as the cause of our problems, because it lets them off the hook. Let me be clear: it is not migrants who cause the problems that we face today in housing, health and in other services; it is successive Governments. While the problems remain in housing and public services, migration must be managed in that context. People who arrive on these shores seeking international protection, and who have a right to be here, should be given every opportunity the State can afford so they can make a positive contribution to society. However, if people arrive at these shores seeking international protection but they do not have the right to remain, they should be returned to where they came from as safely and quickly as possible. This is where the Government has failed. It takes too long to make decisions. It does not enforce deportation orders.

When the Government is considering IPAS centre locations, it must consider the current pressures on services in the area. The Government must communicate directly with communities, which should not find out about proposed IPAS centres from national newspapers. Likewise, TDs like me should not find out from national newspapers. As the Minister will be aware, that is exactly what happened with Citywest. I doubt Citywest will be the last public IPAS centre in the State. The Government must learn from this mistake so that communities know in advance.

I have spoken to the Minister about this privately. The Government must also keep its promises to the people of Saggart. That means no increase in the number of people seeking international protection being based in Citywest; a quicker decision-making process; no plans to develop the cemetery; the gym and the restaurant must remain open for the people of Saggart and;there should be better services for Saggart and ongoing communication with residents. If the Government fails the people of Saggart and it fails to keep its promises, the Minister will find it even more difficult to open any more public IPAS centres in other communities across the State.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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This is probably the most divisive issue in politics. It definitely deserves more frequent discussion. I have been requesting this discussion for the past six months, so I am grateful for my two minutes now.

What will be Ireland's migration management plan for the positive net migration of 79,000 people to our country? How is Ireland's ability to cope in the following areas being measured and planned for: education, healthcare, housing, transport, policing and community safety? Forward planning and robust policies are critical for cohesion and the prosperity of everyone here. Currently, the only means of community engagement is the planning system, and even that is likely to be bypassed by the section 5 loophole. Examples of that are Kells, Ashbourne and Trim.

We now find ourselves with what I would coin as a "quadrilemma" on our hands. The first is the political will to manage migration. The second is the economic interest in having more migration. We must restore the dignity of manual labour, in particular in the care sector and in other services and industries that cannot be automated or outsourced and that we are going to need more than ever in the future. The third is meeting fundamental human rights obligations towards migrants, refugees and citizens alike. We are probably coming to the stage now where we are going to need a national conversation, about ultimately what type of society we want to live in. I hope that the opportunity to regularly visit this topic comes up. I am not sure what the timeframe is before it can be raised again, but five minutes between a group of six is very limited.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I have had engagement on this matter with the Minister previously. When I stood for election as an Independent in Dublin Bay North, the constituency where the former Crown Paints site is located, this issue came up on the doorsteps. The public want to know. I was one of the only candidates who had immigration on my election literature. The platform I was elected on was based on a more dignified, proactive approach to immigration focusing on dialogue between communities and the Government. We know this was not the case with the Crown Paints site. That is why what happened at the site was so disappointing. I know this did not happen during the Minister's term in office but during the term of his predecessor. I call for a full inquiry to understand how the situation was so grossly mishandled so that the mistakes that occurred are never repeated.

Previous speakers talked about solidarity with the Indian community. When I was in Beaumont Hospital recently, I heard of the exact same experience with nurses and doctors being attacked leaving the hospital. Another Deputy mentioned it too. I stand with that community and show solidarity with them. I believe in a country where immigration in Dublin and elsewhere is managed with respect and where communities are included.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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There are countries in the world where if you voice your opposition to massively destabilising levels of illegal immigration, you can and will be shot and killed. It does not appear to matter how respectfully or constructively you may seek to argue for stronger borders, national sovereignty, or just a decision to put your own people first.

Then there are countries in the world, such as our own, that have mercifully not reached this point yet, but that does not mean you will not be silenced in other less obvious or dramatic ways. Your image and reputation will be dragged through the mud. You may be called a threat to social cohesion. You will be portrayed as a villain out to undermine democracy and the unlimited so-called right of the entire world to arrive here on our doorstep, whether or not they have a passport – often they do not.

The facts are clear: the western world is being engulfed by unprecedented levels of public rage regarding the harms being caused by reckless immigration and migration policies. Time and time again the majority of our own people, when asked, express a clear desire to dramatically reduce the flood of people arriving here in the middle of a housing crisis. They are often ignored and vilified, treated as working-class scum. This untrue and unfair view that is often expressed is rampant in society. The view appears to be: how dare they upset any cosy consensus of the establishment and the establishment politicians who masquerade as friends of the ordinary working man and woman. There is a sickness within any political system that treats its own people with such unrelenting disdain.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputy's time is up.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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We want our country back from the grip of rampant illegality. We want order and stability.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thought that was a very worthwhile debate. I stayed for the whole debate and I listened to the 21 TDs who contributed. I took notes of what everyone said. In the limited time, I will not be able to go through what each Deputy said, but I listened very carefully.

It is apparent that there are a couple of things that everyone in this House agrees on. It is worth emphasising that. There is a benefit in having this debate. If this Chamber does not debate contentious and divisive issues such as migration, then the word will go out that they will not even talk about it in the Dáil. I welcome the fact that we had a respectful debate here this afternoon. Everyone felt they were able to contribute and I listened carefully to the views that were expressed here.

One of the aspects of the debate that is agreed across the House is that racism is unacceptable. We saw it in the attacks that were perpetrated on members of the Indian community. As I said to the Indian community, I do not think they were targeted because they are members of the Indian community; regrettably they were targeted in many instances simply because they were migrants. Everyone in this House condemns those attacks. It is worthwhile that the message goes out to the public at large that we stand together in our condemnation of them.

It is also apparent in listening to the various contributions that people come to this debate about migration with different political viewpoints.

Many Members raised a number of issues that I will deal with briefly. Deputy Carthy mentioned and emphasised the issue about the IPAS centres, and indeed, many Sinn Féin Members in their speeches referred to "profiteering" and too much money being spent on IPAS centres. As Deputy Dolan said, I am extremely concerned about that is being spent on IPAS centres, but I ask Members to reflect on the fact that we were dealing with a crisis situation in 2022, 2023 and 2024. In those years, 45,000 people arrived seeking asylum, but on top of that 100,000 people arrived from Ukraine who were granted temporary protection. That is a figure of around 145,000 people who came in and we had to accommodate. Necessarily, that put huge pressure on the system. I will be before Deputy Carthy's committee next week when it comes to discussing IPAS in more detail, but it is important that we have a context as to the reason for contracts being entered into. I am conscious that Deputy O'Gorman must have had a challenging job when in office between 2022 and 2024 in trying to provide accommodation. It is certainly the case, and I will not elaborate on them now, that I introduced changes to system that will ensure that we are going to get better value for money.

A number of individuals spoke about the issue of international protection and asylum applicants. As I said at the outset, it is important to recognise that the number of people coming here seeking asylum, although it has grown significantly in the past three years, is a smallish percentage of the number of people coming to Ireland as migrants. The vast majority of people coming here are on visas, to work and as students. It is also lawful for a person to come here to claim asylum. As Deputy Gibney referenced, people do not have a right to asylum, but they do have a right to claim asylum. I am conscious that when I opened this debate, one thing I wanted to emphasise is that the system I want to see applied is a rules-based system. I want to re-echo that message.

Members of the Social Democrats were critical and thought I did not display a compassionate enough response in dealing with persons who were seeking asylum. I do not purport to claim that I have more compassion or less compassion than anyone else in the House. When it comes to applying an international protection system, or indeed a migration system, we have to have rules. If we do not have rules, it is going to be arbitrary. People will be coming to me saying: "Will you let this person in? This is a fine person; could you allow them to have asylum?" That is not a system that is going to operate effectively. I think I am, and Ireland is, a compassionate country. If we look in comparison to how some other European Union countries treat asylum applicants, we are very compassionate. The word has to get out that in Ireland we have a system, it is based on rules and as Minister I am going to apply those rules. If Members of this House, and they are entitled to, want to change the rules, reduce the rules or make them more amenable to people getting around them, there is a method of doing that. The way they do that is by bringing in legislation to amend the International Protection Act 2015 that is already in place.

A number of Deputies also criticised the European migration pact and said it is an interference with Irish sovereignty. When it comes to refugees, we have signed up to the 1951 Refugee Convention. It will not come as a surprise, but that is under pressure internationally. Ireland has complied with it and continues to comply with it. We comply with our international obligations when it comes to refugee applications. However, when looking at trying to deal with the movement of people internationally, it is apparent that the majority of people coming to Ireland to claim asylum are coming through other European countries, and indeed, ultimately, the vast majority are coming through the UK. We need to have an agreed position and co-operation between ourselves and other European Union countries. If we do not, we are going to find ourselves in the same way that Britain finds itself in at present. It finds itself in a situation where it thought that by leaving the European Union it was going to be able to resolve the issue it had in respect of migration. In fact, the issues that were a concern to it have got considerably worse since it left the European Union. It has no mechanism to engage with other European Union countries in trying to ensure that there are arrangements in place to deal with people.

It is regrettable that I am spending time on the issue of international protection because it is a small part of our migration. However, it is worth emphasising that the people who come here predominantly are coming here on work visas. They are wanted in the multinational sector to work. They are wanted in our hospitals. They are wanted in our construction sector. It is creating challenges because of the rise in the population. As I said at the outset, the population is increasing seven times faster than the EU average. The population increased by approximately 100,000 last year. As Deputy Fitzmaurice said, it is obviously putting pressures on the system, but if we are going to reduce the numbers, there are ways I can do it. I was interested that Deputy Carthy said we should reduce student numbers. That is something I will look at with regard to students coming in. However, there will be consequences to that. People will say that we are damaging the education sector by reducing numbers. Every action has a reaction, but we are in an unusual position.

We have handled migration pretty well in Ireland. We are only used to it for 27 or 28 years. When I was growing up, people were emigrating. I wish to pick Deputy Carthy up on one point. He said emigration from Ireland was due to the policies of Irish Governments. From 1841 onwards when the population started to declining, I think the British Government has a bit of responsibility for that as well, certainly prior to independence.

On the numbers coming in, there is a significant number with international protection. The predominant route is that people are coming from the UK into Northern Ireland and claiming their asylum this way. Deputy O'Flynn referred to people arriving at the airport. Very few applicants are made for international protection in Dublin Airport at present. Most of the applications are made directly at the IPO office. It is a real challenge to us in terms of the asylum sphere. We are hugely impacted by what happens in the UK.

We have done migration pretty well in Ireland. Anybody who goes to sports matches they will see young kids playing. We can see the diversity of groups of people who are playing sports as youngsters now. We see it throughout our community. We have done it well. Sometimes we need to give ourselves a bit of credit for it. Notwithstanding that, one of the messages that has hit me from this debate is that there is a general recognition by TDs, and this regrettably is something I have come to the view of as well, that there is a rise in racist, abusive people in Ireland. That is a matter of concern to me and I know it is a matter of concern to everybody in this House. The response to that is difficult because predominantly it is coming from youths who are under 18 years of age. We need to think we have an education obligation in respect of it. It is a societal response. We need to recognise and emphasise to people that in a republic, it is abhorrent that we would seek to criticise or discriminate against somebody because of their inherent characteristics, such as race. It has been a good debate.