Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank him for taking the statements today. I have thought long and hard about this debate. We need to broaden it out by addressing the various reasons that people come to Ireland. I would like to mention something that struck me before today’s debate. Last week, we had the announcement of where the Ministers and Ministers of State will travel to promote Ireland and Irish issues for St. Patrick’s Day. That is a valuable economic gain for us as a country, as well as an inward investment in every way. For as long as I can remember, the undocumented Irish in the US have been on the agenda at St. Patrick’s Day in Washington, including in the White House when the shamrock is presented. Over the years, family members who are living a good life and working hard in America have not been able to come home for funerals because they are undocumented. Decent people have been expelled from the US because they were undocumented. I am struck by that contrast. I have no doubt that the delegation going to Washington this year will make the same appeal again. It will be addressed on Capitol Hill or in the White House. It is entirely unreasonable that we would stand up and make statements in this House on this subject while at the same time lobbying other Governments for our own Irish people who are in the US but have not gone through proper channels in order to get there. We have to keep that perspective in mind.

At one point in my life I was an economic migrant. I had to go to England for work after I left school because there was no work in Ireland at the time. Being an economic migrant does not make a person into a substandard human. These are people who are trying to fend for themselves or for their families. Men may arrive in our country because they are at risk of being murdered in their own countries due to being members of the gay community, or for many other reasons that are not always apparent. I know we have a faster process when people come from countries that are supposedly safe. I am uncomfortable with that language because it sends a discriminatory message - albeit unintended - that there are safe countries. A person who comes from a country that is designated as safe can still be in fear for his or her life, and thereby require asylum in Ireland. I am proud of our history as a nation of reaching out to the world and supporting it, no matter what has happened around the world. That has been the case for the entirety of my lifetime, at least - for more years than I care to remember.

We have always been known for our generosity per capitawhen it comes to giving. Are we saying that it is okay to send money abroad, but if they come here, woe betide them because we are going to go out, protest and shout that they should be burnt out? It is only a very small cohort of our communities that do this. I think about things like that.

I have ties to the recruitment industry. I have been an adviser to the Employment and Recruitment Federation. Every industry is crying out for people and for skills. We have a shortage of workers. Since Covid-19, it has been noticeable that our hospitality industry is short of people to work. I would let people in and give them the ability to get work permits. While they are here, there must be a response for the undocumented here. We have done that. We have given an amnesty. However, we need to be careful. I believe we need a very strong information campaign. We had the Covid-19 advertising, and now we need a strong information campaign that dispels the misinformation that is put out in communities.

I would like to comment on the idea that we should somehow get a veto over men in particular. I spent a year and a half working in the criminal courts. I devilled with a master who specialised in prosecuting sexual offences. In all of that time not one of the perpetrators in those cases was a foreign national. We were in trial every day of the week for the entirety of my devilling experience. Cases are being heard in the criminal courts today, and I guarantee there are more Irish people than any others. There is an idea that because somebody is a foreign national, we should get a veto over them and want them to be Garda checked, but it does not seem to apply to your Irish next-door neighbour or your family member. This othering suits a narrative and is really quite appalling. We are in the middle of an appalling war in Ukraine that involves appalling suffering.I will stand at the GPO on Friday as we remember it with the ambassador and think of everything. This time last year, I was fielding calls from parents in Kyiv who were trying to bring their babies and surrogate mothers home. It was most extraordinary but it is not unique to Ukraine. We should be supporting people around the world. We are people of great privilege. Yes, it is a challenge, but let us embrace it. However, we need an information campaign to dispel any myths.