Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

As everyone is aware, I am a member of the Traveller community. I know exactly what it is like to be hated within Irish society. On social media, we see the burning of Traveller houses. We have seen it in counties Donegal and Galway for many years. There is no legislation in place that will protect vulnerable groups. What we should do first is prioritise positive policies and legislation for migrants and refugees. Every single one of us in this and the other House has a family member or extended family member who has had to emigrate for financial reasons. I know of many members of the Traveller community who could not get work in Ireland and who had no choice but to emigrate to make their lives better.

I have been to rallies in Donegal and Dublin in the past few weeks. It defines who we are as a community. This is something that Travellers do an awful lot as well. We are good and we are constantly delivering that message. We are good people; we are not here to fight. A woman at the protest in Donegal said she pays her taxes and is a good-living person. I was struck by the fact that, because of all the propaganda on our streets at the moment, she had to define who she was.

Last November in this House, I called for a national campaign, led by the Government, on welcoming to our country refugees and other migrants who live and belong here. The Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland has done great work along with the former Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, on securing justice for the undocumented. I am a proud community-development worker and activist who worked on the campaign with the centre. As has been said, we want justice for our own migrants around the world, but what about those who are here?

We are talking about accommodation. Refugees and other migrants are living in horrible accommodation. I could use worse words. We have to understand that, when talking about housing the Irish and all that oul' jazz that is coming out of people's mouths just to spread oul' propaganda, hate and lies and to divide our communities, we are not giving refugees houses; we are putting them into hotels.

The White Paper was launched two years ago. I understand there is an unprecedented crisis with war in Europe and so on – obviously, I am not so foolish as not to get that – but the White Paper on ending direct provision is nowhere to be seen.Last night I was at a talk on action against racism. Lucky Khambule is a refugee campaigner and is such a powerful person. He said that issues and the fear for refugees in Ireland have become worse. There is a two-tier system. I know this because I was approached many times in this House to not talk about the two-tier system. We do have a two-tier system where we have some refugees classed as European up here, and then black and brown refugees down there who are fleeing and seeking international protection. I know what it is like to be an other within society and to be treated less than white settled people. Why are we part of that? We need leadership.

Let us consider the Garda vetting nonsense we are seeing at the moment, with people saying "We have to vet these people and know who is coming into our communities". We do not have to know who is coming into our communities. We have seen that for many a year with the Traveller community when people have said, "We need to know what Travellers are coming in." I encourage people to get out and get to know other people. We talk of migrating for money, yet these are people who pay taxes in our country. These are people who bring many skills to our country. I am not being patronising to the Muslim community. The two doctors who delivered my two children are both Muslim. Again, these are people who give to us and who pay tax. They are here for genuine reasons. Some people must flee because of their government and the laws in their countries, yet we do not touch on that.

On the accommodation, our rundown schools are nearly falling down. This is a health and safety problem. We have these people living in our rundown schools and in direct provision centres, which were set up more than 20 years ago. We still have not ended direct provision. I would like to know where we are in that regard. I understand the crisis at the moment and that we have not seen the likes of it since the Second World War. During my 32 year life, I have not seen the likes of such xenophobia. There were even notices posted on social media last week to keep your girls inside the door and not to let them out. We do know, however, that this is not working. From what I saw last week, we want an Ireland for all, but we also need a government for all. I put it to the Minister that we need a government that is there to protect the people who are fleeing war, and that does not put one set of refugees over another set. We must treat people with dignity and respect.

I know exactly what it is like to live in rundown accommodation. I ask the Minister, with every bit of me and with all of my heart. I work with these people in our communities. These people have a lot to give to our society. Going back 15 years, you would never have heard of a Traveller person marrying a settled person. I am married to a settled person. We are all-----