Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also want to be associated with the comments made by Senator Buttimer on what is happening. People knew that this was going to happen as the World Cup taking place in Qatar, even though there have been human rights abuse in that place, has been spoken about for a long time. Unfortunately, we are not surprised by the situation there. It is a great shame that the captains of the soccer teams did not show leadership at a certain moment. I firmly believe that if they cannot show leadership by wearing an armband on a pitch, then I do not know what support they can offer a member of their team who may be a member of the LGBT community.

I wish to talk about what happened in the East Wall over the past couple of days. My heart is broken thinking about the people who have fled war and sought safety and asylum here in Ireland. I cannot imagine how they are feeling. Let us imagine if any one of us had to leave Ireland to seek a better life and get a start for our families only to be met by what was, quite frankly, a baying mob. The scenes that I watched online were unbelievable and shocking. What happened over the weekend was disgraceful. I believe the community there is being manipulated by bad actors who seek to take advantage of a community that is weary from societal neglect and feel like they have been left behind. The extreme far right are thriving on seeding this panic. They will simply skip off into the sunset and find other places, which we have seen in Oughterard, Roosky, Moville and all over the country. They manoeuvre themselves around the place and whip up fear and hatred. They do absolutely nothing for communities outside of pitting them against each other.

I want to put it on the record that immigrants do not come here and take anyone's jobs. If anyone was laid off in favour of cheap immigrant labour, then they need to blame the capitalist masters who decided that they wanted cheap labour and decided to take advantage of the immigrant to increase their profits with little or no care or regard for the consequences of their actions. It is that capitalist master who rubs his or her hands with glee as immigrants are blamed for the woes of society and the capitalist master is not blamed for his or her greed or endless pursuit of profit. Immigrants do not come here and take people's houses. They do not come here and take people's healthcare. They are not to blame for a scarcity of resources. Societal resourcing is the responsibility of the State, not the people who come here for a better life.

I wish to commend the members of the East Wall community who have gone to the site to let the frightened people there know that they are welcome here. I would like to make a point to those who have taken it upon themselves to fall into the trap of protesting that people are coming here for a better life. First, protestors would be better off not blaming immigrants for things that have been caused by decades of capitalist decisions. Second, they would be better off protesting the for-profit housing policies designed for speculators and big business. I join with the community in East Wall who have called for proper supports for the community there. They are currently in beds in partitions and big office spaces. I commend anyone who has said that refugees are welcome here and that they are not to be blamed for society's woes.