Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

I am here to support Senator Norris's Bill but I did not intend to speak on it. The longer I was listening to the contributions, the more frustrated I became with what I was hearing. It seems that everybody in this House agrees we need a solution. Everybody in this House agrees that what Senator Norris has produced is a solution - maybe a diamond in the rough.

I want to go back in time. I left Ireland as an economic refugee when I was 16 years to go to the United Kingdom. I was treated fairly. When I arrived on the island of Britain, I had hope, I had the expectation of a job, a career. I had something to look forward to. God help the poor individual who arrives in Ireland and all he or she can look forward to is a room and accommodation in direct provision.

Some years ago when my business failed I remember finding myself in the sitting room with the walls coming in around me because I could not find the motivation to get up and do something about it. Imagine if one has the motivation and there is nothing one can do because an organisation says one cannot do that. This is fundamentally wrong in every sense of the world. This summer I visited Ellis Island, and I could imagine what it would have felt like to arrive into this massive hall, but at the other end there was hope of a career, hope of advancement and a future. What future is there when one is locked into the accommodation?

I have had considerable experience in the past number of years of working with those who came to this country as refugees. I have never met the work ethic that these people have. They have hopes and dreams for their children.