Billy Lawless (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I also welcome publication of the migrant integration strategy, which contains a number of concrete, key measures that are worth highlighting. These include: the establishment by local authorities of networks aimed at reaching out to hard-to-reach migrant groups to help them to engage with Departments and to provide information on their needs; the establishment of a communities integration fund intended to support organisations in local communities, sports organisations, faith organisations and so on to undertake actions to promote the integration of migrants into their communities; the monitoring of current school enrolment policies to address their impact on the enrolment of migrant students; the inclusion of a language component in education and training programmes for unemployed migrants with poor English proficiency; initiatives to ensure that migrant needs regarding skills acquisition and labour market activation are addressed; and initiatives to encourage the business sector to play a role in promoting integration.

I am more hopeful now than at any point in the past 12 months because anti-immigrant platforms are being defeated across Europe. The outcome of the US election, along with Brexit, tapped into a psyche across western democracies that pro-migrant policies would push political parties off an electoral cliff. Chancellor Merkel's brave decision in 2015 to take in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees on foot of a global outcry regarding the treacherous and often fatal journeys children and adults were taking to get to Europe was broadly heralded at the time as one taken in spite of the political risks involved. However, it was subsequently panned by public pundits who predicted that the wave of populism which delivered Brexit and the US would crash onto the European Union's shores. We were told that the people of the Netherlands would elect a person who is openly Islamophobic, but this did not happen; that a candidate from a former holocaust denying anti-immigrant party would be elected president of Austria, but it did not happen; that Marine Le Pen, which her anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant trappings, would become President of France, but this also did not happen; and that Chancellor Merkel would pay a big political price for the decision to open Germany's borders to those fleeing appalling strife. As recently as last Sunday, however, Chancellor Merkel was winning state elections and looks set to be returned to power in September.

The US President issued an executive order which, in effect, would have led to Muslims being banned from the United States.The national outcry created by this action brought people of all races and hues together in what has been one of the strongest fight-backs against any presidential decision I can recall. From 28 to 31 January, almost 50 cases were filed in federal courts seeking to prevent the order from coming into being. I was one of thousands of protesters who gathered at airports and other locations throughout the US. The first Muslim ban was withdrawn and a new one developed but this order was also halted by the US courts thus preventing it going into effect.

I welcome these initiatives proposed by the Minister and the global tide that is shifting against anti-immigrant rhetoric but I must ask the Minister about the 4,500 people in direct provision in Ireland. What moves are being made to accelerate their cases for adjudication? Direct provision was set up as a temporary measure in 2000 and here we are 18 years later, where very little has changed in the lives, conditions and supports for these people. Some families have been in direct provision for up to ten years. I know of a case of three women from Africa from different cultures and different countries sharing one room. I know of parents trying to support children in their home countries on the pittance of €19 per week. This cannot continue. The conditions they are living under are unacceptable. Their children can attend secondary school but cannot receive third-level education. They are unable to avail fully of social welfare or housing supports. Can the Minister of State tell me how far advanced is the Department of Justice and Equality in implementing the findings of the working group on improvements to the protection process chaired by Dr. Bryan McMahon, which was published in June 2015?