Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Senators Ó Ríordáin and Feighan spoke eloquently on the issue of migration, with particular reference to Ireland's heritage and record in this regard. Indeed, we have a responsibility arising out of that history to give leadership on this issue on a wider scale. Ireland was awarded the honour of chairing the high level UN summit on migration last September and played a key role in convening that summit. Will the Leader arrange a debate in which we can discuss what Ireland is doing in providing international leadership, not simply in terms of the number of migrants coming here but also within a wider context?A number of bilateral agreements were signed over the course of last autumn to effectively externalise many of the EU's borders to ensure that we are not seeing migrants on the streets of Europe. We know that deals are being made - in many cases with countries where the security of refugees is not guaranteed, like Sudan and Afghanistan - whereby refugees are not even getting the opportunity to put forward their case or to reach us. We need to have clarity about the EU deals that are being signed in respect of the externalisation of EU borders and Ireland's position in that regard. We also need to have clarity on how Ireland sees itself responding to the changes in the USA, including for example, how we will respond to programme refugees from Somalia who were due to arrive in the US. What is our position with regard to the situation on the island of Nauru? Migrants on that island are in a shocking and appalling situation and it seems that they will also be let down in terms of their arrangement with the United States. How does Ireland see itself stepping up in the international context and continuing with the leadership it showed at the UN? I would appreciate a debate on that.

In respect of taxation, I share the concerns already expressed about our tax base. I was very disappointed to see that both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil did not feel able to support my amendment last night to ensure that we would have better communication between the Revenue Commissioners -----