Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I call for the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to come to the House and answer the question of whether it is finally time to talk about immigration to this country. Is it finally time for all of us to talk openly and honestly about this, the most important issue in the country today? Is it time for everyone to come together and hash out some semblance of a workable plan, a logical way forward or anything approaching a coherent and consistent approach to how this country, and the Government, is going to handle the unsustainable level of inward migration we have been experiencing for the past two and a half years? Is it time to take the handling of this issue out of the hands of the Cabinet and the Departments and into the hands of the Houses of the Oireachtas, where ideas can be put, debated, scrutinised and can live or die on their merits, where there is accountability, with anyone being able to look in and see exactly what is being said and who is saying it, and where the public does not have to figure out what its own Government is doing from Cabinet meeting leaks or mealy-mouthed departmental press releases?

Is it possible for this country to have a coherent approach to immigration? We all know how much Irish Governments love to engage in boom-to-bust cycles, but the sheer brazenness of the Government's complete lack of foresight on this issue is mind-boggling. It apparently made zero connection between unlimited inward immigration and eventually having nowhere to put people, which saw it then trying frantically to turn off the tap. Everyone else made this connection; just not the Government. I would love for any Minister to tell us how that happened. I know we will not get an apology and we will never get ownership, accountability or any recognition of the truth. We are used to that by now. However, I ask that we have a debate on the issue in these Houses.