Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Green Party for those very kind remarks and I will be sure to pass them on to Niall Ó Donnghaile. It was very generous of Senator Martin.

I call for a debate on emigration. Between July 2022 and July 2023, some 21,000 visas were issued to Irish citizens going to Australia. That is double the number the previous year and it makes Ireland the highest recipient of those visas per capita. It is no surprise that people are leaving because housing consumes absolutely everything, affecting the ability to live and work in our cities and the ability to work in our health service as well. A banner that was unfurled on the steps of the Sydney Opera House stated, "Give us a reason to come home". Those 21,000 people did not leave as a result of some spontaneous collective sense of adventure. They left because the vast majority cannot afford in a country they love. I have been a wild rover. That is the Irish dilemma. That is the Irish blues and some things do not change.

That is a direct result of Government policies that mean the average house price rose to €320,000 last year. The average price of a new home is €433,000 and rents have doubled since 2010. All of that sees nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals working in overcrowded, underfunded hospitals going abroad. We need to give them a reason to come home. At what point do we say that emigration not just a result of Government policy but it is actually Government policy? How many more people have to get on a plane? How many of our friend groups and families have to be broken up before the Government will even acknowledge that people are leaving because they see no future here? What hope do we have of addressing this issue if Government will not even acknowledge that it exists? Sinn Féin would, therefore, like a debate on emigration.