Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I support the call for a debate on the enterprise strategy report. I presume there will not be sufficient time next week to schedule anything other than brief statements but it is important that time should be set aside for a debate at the earliest date. This is an interesting and fundamental report and its recommendations on immigration and migrant labour present a major challenge to society. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs recently examined the future economic development of Europe and the central finding of its report was that over the next decade tens of millions of people will have to migrate to the Union if its economic base is to be sustained. If that is the picture in Europe generally, there will be a similar requirement in Ireland.

We debated the issue of citizenship and racism in recent months. Significant numbers of foreign workers must be allowed into the State if economic progress is to be sustained. It will be a challenge to a society to address this issue fully, accept it openly and put structures in place to meet the recommendations as quickly as possible. A thorough debate is required and it will be a great challenge to us politically and to every other citizen to accept in a mature fashion the requirements of the Ireland of the new millennium.