Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I ask for a debate, along with my colleague Senator Bacik, on the integration of immigrants. It is disquieting that according to a report by UCD researchers, as few as 12% of Chinese immigrants and as few as 22% of Lithuanians regard themselves as being highly integrated into Irish society. I emphasise that being integrated is not the same as being employed. Lithuanians, for example, have high rates of employment but are not highly integrated. This imposes a major responsibility on Irish people to do what we can to respect the dignity of our immigrant population.

I know of a number of cases in which Africans who came to this country as minors and have been here for a number of years, who have excellent characters and where people will give them references——