Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senator Bacik is going up in my opinion. As a contrarian in this House, can I say that my party will not be opposing the motion before us? I welcome the appointment of a Minister of State for the new communities because integration is hugely important. The various immigrants to Ireland over the last 20 years in particular have added significantly to, and have enhanced the fabric of, Irish society. Their presence is now making a distinctive contribution to our development.

That experience over the past 20 years has been good for Ireland, but there has been a lack of Government action on direct provision and undocumented migrants. In addition, there has been a failure to publish a new national integration strategy.

I will single out two immigrant communities. Our largest immigrant population are the British, which is interesting. I know anecdotally from speaking with such people in all corners of Ireland that many of them left Britain because they no longer felt at home in what was regarded as their own country. That is a cautionary note for us to ensure that the qualities which have held us in good stead are of value and need to be preserved in integrating our immigrant community.

The second largest community is the Polish one. Like Senator Bacik, I also want to pay tribute to their contribution. We have many Polish people in New Ross. There are two industries, a transport company and an American medical company, which employ significant numbers of Polish people. It is obvious that they have a tremendously good work ethic. They are here to secure a better life but also to make a contribution. One of the things we have as a nation is a tremendously good work ethic, which applies here as much as to Irish emigrants going abroad. It has stood us in good stead and also provides opportunities for those who emigrate.

In recent years, local industries in New Ross have become involved in a seven-a-side competition. For the first time last year we had a seven-a-side team entered by the Polish community, which got a lot of support. In fact, it created a good atmosphere surrounding the entire competition.

Most of the Polish here are devout Catholics who play a full part at parish level. That is also a great mechanism for integration. Many Polish people attend mass on Sundays and are thus part of the parish community.In the context of that particular tradition and the good Christian values of the Polish people, somewhat fortuitously, I happened to be on a trip to Poland with the then Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights when the funeral of St. John Paul II was taking place. I was in Warsaw for the funeral mass and subsequently travelled to Krakow that evening. The devotion of young Polish people to St. John Paul II at the time and the way in which his death had affected them was extremely touching. One could not but be impressed by what one had witnessed. I was struck by the fact that St. John Paul II was not just regarded as a religious leader but he was also a great national hero to the Polish people.

I would like the Minister of State to comment on the review of integration policy. It appears that the Government has been dragging its feet on it. The review was announced in March 2014 by the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter. The programme for Government included a commitment to promote policies which contributed to integration, but just over one year after the announcement of the review, there is no sign any such policy. There was great fanfare about the cross-departmental group on integration being reconstituted and given a mandate to review activities in this area. Failure to integrate will leave a large number of legacy issues for future generations. In that context, the level of extreme hostility towards Britain and France among some people born there to parents from other countries is a source of grave concern. Britain, France and similar nations are reaping the whirlwind of what a Member of this House referred to as multiculturalism. I am not a fan of multiculturalism. Some years ago I prepared a paper on policing in a multicultural society for one of the third level colleges. I argued in it that we should be talking not about multiculturalism but about interculturalism. Britain and France made mistakes in allowing huge swathes of urban areas to become dominated by particular ethnic groups, with no integration. That was a failure of policy. We should ensure we do not allow a similar situation to develop here.

The House has on many occasions discussed the delays and the legal mechanisms used to facilitate them, as well as the costs of the direct provision system. Above all, however, our debates on the issue have focused on the risk to those young people who are losing out on their childhood as a result of being in direct provision facilities. There have been cases in which people have been obliged to wait in the direct provision system for up to nine years. The position in this regard is unacceptable and action must be taken to solve the problem. On quite a few occasions I have been struck by how immigrants from countries from which there is no direct access to Ireland end up here. I am wondering if other countries within the European Union are abrogating their responsibilities. We must play our part proportionately, but we should not allow a system to develop whereby other countries do not play theirs and Ireland is left to pick up the pieces as a result.