Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the call made by a number of my colleagues to regularise the children of undocumented parents. A certain number of children fall into this category. It is an indictment of our system that these children's parents can be here for years without being given a proper status that would allow them to participate fully in society. We have to own up to that and, to face it, especially in respect of these undocumented children who did not choose to be here. We definitely have not handled things they way we ought to have. These children are here and they are a reality.

In facing up to this issue, we have to realise that we are talking about young talent and energy. These children have their futures ahead of them and we want them to be able to participate. As has been said, that would be to the benefit of our society and of benefit in building up our nation. If we do not allow them to participate, we will store up trouble for the future. Many of these youngsters have different ethnic backgrounds. They may be of a different colour or race. They have been in the system for a long time. They are Irish. We have to re-examine what it is to be Irish. We have to draw circles of inclusiveness around these children, recognise the dilemma they face, and allow them to live their lives. We are talking about a particular cohort of children and, as a state, modern Ireland has a responsibility to deal with the situation we have allowed to develop.