Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for remaining in the House as he always does when dealing with legislation. This Bill follows from the referendum in June. While we will table some amendments on Committee Stage we support the thrust of the Bill as we supported the referendum in June. We must accept that an overwhelming number of the people supported the referendum which is a good thing and makes it easier for us, as legislators, to deal with this legislation.

I agree with the Minister that as a result of the large number who have come to live here, we have developed a more open and cosmopolitan society, certainly one that I welcome and from which the country benefits. One has only to walk down the street to see many different nationalities and to hear the different accents and languages, all of which bring colour and diversity to the nation. Within our schools it is wonderful for Irish children to mix with children from different countries. That enriches all of us; it opens our horizons and broadens our minds. It is great for young people to grow up in that atmosphere as against the closed atmosphere in which I grew up.

Immigration brings with it great opportunities for Ireland. Not only does society benefit from people coming here but we rely heavily on large numbers of immigrants coming here. We are dependent on them in many sectors and must welcome them. We have an obligation to offer protection to them and, therefore, we are obliged to have proper laws in place to deal with immigration, citizenship and so on. We were taken unawares and were unprepared for the influx of immigrants and are still playing catch-up. This legislation is necessary and will help the whole process.

There are a few issues I wish to highlight, which are not included in the Bill, in the overall context of dealing with our immigration laws, to which some speakers have already referred. I wish to add my voice to those concerns. More than 11,000 parents had Irish-born children prior to the Supreme Court decision. I plead with the Minister, as did my colleague, Senator Cummins, to grant an amnesty to those people as they have been in Ireland for many years and have put down their roots here. I ask the Minister to use his humanity, as displayed in his contribution today, and consider granting an amnesty to those. Whenever we hear on the airwaves that a family is being deported, the community in which that person lives pleads with him over the airwaves and, I am sure, by letter to relent and grant citizenship or residency to these people because they have become part of the fabric of the community. At this stage the Irish people would accept that many, if not all, of these people should be granted an amnesty and become full citizens of Ireland.

On the issue of the numbers seeking asylum whose applications are before the Minister, something should be done to speed up the process. Given that more than 600 officials are employed in the special unit to deal with asylum applications, I do not understand why it takes so long to assess these applications. We must remember that we are dealing with people who are living in limbo and who are extremely concerned about their future. In the interests of everyone, something should be done to speed up the entire process because the current system is unacceptable and unfair to everyone concerned.

Another issue relates to work permits. While this is not part of the Minister's brief, one of the problems is that immigration is covered by the different Departments, which sometimes leads to confusion. I recommend changing the work permits system whereby employers are the holders of these permits. This is not in the interests of people coming here to work who are tied to that employer. I would like employees to have greater power over their destiny while in this country.

Another change I would like to support relates to people who have work permits but are not allowed to bring their family members here. We immediately think of Filipino nurses on whom we depend to keep our hospitals in operation. There are also a large number of people working in child care. I read an article over the weekend about a Filipino person who works in child care. This individual must leave her spouse and children in the Philippines and, out of necessity, come to Ireland to work and look after other people's children. She is not allowed to bring her own spouse and children to this country, which is an aspect we must consider. If people are allowed to work here for a number of years and accept the regulations attached to the permit, they should be allowed to bring their family with them, if that is their wish. This is an issue which should be considered.

I welcome the end of the passports for sale system, which is a welcome provision in the legislation. I hope the Minister will consider the points I raised. While they are not directly included in the Bill, they involve immigration regulations. I look forward to further debates in this regard.