Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State back to the Chamber to discuss Ireland’s migrant integration strategy. It is something that is very close to my heart and I welcome the initiative. As we know, Ireland is an increasingly diverse country. CSO data from 2016 show that roughly one in ten people living here define as non-Irish, while last year saw net inward migration to the State for the first time since 2009. A significant number of people are also seeking to build a life in Ireland to contribute to our communities and our wonderful country. Immigration is a positive and permanent reality in Ireland, and we must celebrate the diversity that comes with it.

As the strategy recognises, integration is a two-way process. It is not about asking people to simply adapt to their new homes, but about recognising that the State and wider civil society must make every effort to do the same. Real integration is proudly asserting that migrants should not be asked to blend in or to disappear into the crevices and margins of Irish society, but to become a fundamental and central part of it. Overall, how we treat migrants says a huge amount about who we are as a people. Since 2011, the citizenship ceremonies held across the country are examples of Ireland at its best – inclusive, welcoming and open.They realise the reputation of the céad míle fáilte and look beyond legal acceptance to a sense of social inclusion and belonging. In the past four years, more than 85,000 people from more than 160 countries have become Irish citizens, widening and enriching our definition of what it means to be Irish. This is the spirit in which we must proceed.

Around the world, we can see an alarming increase in xenophobia as migrants are continually scapegoated, stereotyped and demonised. We see politicians across the Atlantic and the Irish Sea shamefully exploiting people's fears and whipping up anti-migrant sentiment. This trend is toxic, and Ireland must lead the fight against it. We must strongly reassert the positive contribution that migrants make to their new countries.

I am happy to see that €500,000 will be made available this year for local community integration projects. In particular, music, culture and the arts are hugely beneficial in bringing communities together. Much has been said about how ordinary people in towns and villages like Ballaghaderreen have rallied to welcome Syrian refugees to their communities, and I can only further commend these efforts. They are a credit to the country. It is, however, vital that the Government does not simply rely on community and non-profit organisations to do this work. The State must ensure adequate resources are provided for the provisions outlined in this strategy. Commitments to expand English language training programmes must be well funded. Similarly, intercultural awareness training for staff in the public sector is welcome, but we must ensure the proper interpretation and translation supports are provided, especially in the context of health care and education. The citizenship ceremonies themselves are fantastic occasions but they cost €1,125 to participate. This is clearly prohibitive for a huge number of people. The strategy commits to reviewing this fee, but no more. I hope the Minister will support a reduction in that fee.

Beyond this, two stories from last month showcase the best and the worst of how things can work in Ireland when it comes to migration and integration. In April, a young man named Muhammad made his debut for Michael Davitt's GAA club in Belfast. Muhammad is a Syrian refugee who arrived in Ireland with his family from war-torn Aleppo. We cannot imagine the difficulties and hardship that he and his family have faced and the kind of terror that has caused so many to flee in recent years. He lined out for the Davitt's under 10s last month, scoring two goals in his first game with his new team mates. Pictures circulated quickly of him standing proudly in an O'Neill's GAA jersey after the game, and it was impossible not to be moved by the beaming smile across his face. It is brilliant that Ireland can give Muhammad and his family a new chance and a new life, but it should make us reflect on how much more we can do. Callous inaction and low commitments from European leaders are seeing people die on Europe's borders. We should not be congratulating ourselves for meeting tiny EU quotas for refugee resettlement. We should be asking why these figures are so low in the first place. We can and must do more to show compassion to people fleeing persecution and war.

Just a few days after Muhammad played that game in Belfast, a mother living in the direct provision centre in Eglinton in Galway had to carry her sick child for two miles to hospital, because she could not afford the bus fare. The Galway Anti-Racism Network spoke to The Irish Timesabout the case and others like it, including a woman living in the centre who had to walk the two miles home with her newborn baby because the €19 per week she is forced to live on cannot cover the cost of transportation. Can one imagine the stress and anguish of that situation and how difficult that must be?

The migrant integration strategy does not account for these women because it does not directly address how asylum seekers are treated by the State. The strategy applies only to EEA and non-EEA nationals, including economic migrants, refugees and those with legal status to remain in Ireland. This is very disappointing. How can we talk credibly about the integration of migrants in this country without considering the thousands of people living in direct provision centres throughout the country? The design of this strategy means that direct provision falls outside law and policy again. Direct provision is a scandal. I have raised the issue in this House previously, but the treatment of people who are feeling some of the worst abuse in the world is shameful.Some 4,500 people are locked in this system and they are forced to live on €19 per week. They cannot engage in education beyond the leaving certificate. They lack basic cooking facilities and sleep in small, cramped, communal rooms. The disastrous mental health effects are well known. Research from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has shown that depression and mental health problems are five times as high in direct provision as in the wider community, coupled with feelings of isolation and a loss of self-esteem. People remain in this system for up to a decade, which has been repeatedly condemned by human rights organisations. It is shameful. Who benefits from such a system? Who benefits from keeping talented, ambitious, enthusiastic people from realising their potential? It is certainly not the State as it makes a mockery of its commitment to cherish all children of the nation equally. It is not the people living in carceral institutions who are denied their basic rights and dignity. Ultimately, the beneficiaries are the network of contractors running these centres on a for-profit basis. Last year, eight companies were paid €43.5 million to provide these centres. Is this the best use of our resources?

As we try to come to terms with the abuse inflicted on people in the mother and baby homes, the Magdalen laundries and other State and religious institutions, we often look back and ask ourselves how this happened. This is how it happens. It happens through endless discussion in committees, through reports left to gather dust and through the slow, cruel inaction of the State. It happens through a migrant integration strategy that says nothing about the 4,500 migrants trapped in a system that denies them their basic human rights.

The strategy also does not apply to the estimated 20,000 or 30,000 people who are undocumented and living in Ireland today. This is unacceptable. We cannot on the one hand plead with the United States Administration for justice for the undocumented Irish people living in America while ignoring the plight of those people living here under similar circumstances. Undocumented migrants' lack of legal status prevents them from accessing basic rights and protection, and a substantial number of people live in a state of constant fear. Many are concentrated in non-unionised, low-paid sectors where exploitation is common and no reasonable means for redress exists.