Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be as brief as I can be. I am delighted the International Protection (Family Reunification) Bill 2017 has passed. On behalf of the Civil Engagement group I especially commend our colleague, Senator Colette Kelleher, and her office for their incredible leadership on this issue. Senator Kelleher has done phenomenal work. I would particularly like to note the contribution of Mr. Pádraig Rice, who did amazing work on this before leaving Leinster House to move back to Cork. This Bill is a testament to both of them.

I know my colleague will thank the Irish Refugee Council, Oxfam Ireland and Nasc for their years of dedication on this issue and help in developing the legislation. It is a modest but meaningful change that will see us treat refugees arriving in Ireland with more compassion, kindness and understanding. Ireland is at its best when we extend a hand of friendship to those seeking refuge on our shores. This is how we should react to the most serious humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.

Importantly, this is not just a more humane way to treat people, it is also smarter policy - we know that people fare better with their families around them. How can a person focus on a new home, a new community, a new life, when one does not know if one's children or parents are safe from harm on the other side of the world? These people have already been through so much. It is harrowing to hear about the additional trauma, stress and anxiety caused by constant worrying about the welfare of one's loved ones. A Leas Chathaoirligh, I just need two seconds to comment on one interviewee from South Sudan who spoke about how difficult it was without his family, stating that:

I miss my mother, my father, my sister, my brother. If I talk to them and somebody is sick I can’t sleep because I think about them.

On meeting his family another interviewee said:

I saw my wife and I cried. Because of joy but also because she was really tired - when I saw her face, I could see it. The kids were OK, they were OK. We took the bus and the minute we boarded, and with the children around and my wife sitting next to me, she put her head on my shoulder and she slept. She was totally at ease - all her worries had gone.

That is what this Bill is all about. That is why we proposed this legislation - for moments that respect the dignity of all human beings and the need for a humane, compassionate response to those fleeing war and persecution. I am calling on all colleagues to support this Bill today, to support this Bill in the Dáil, and to enact it as quickly as possible. We have an opportunity to keep refugee families together and we should take it.