Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. There is no doubt that there has been an increase in the numbers coming to our shores and the European Union area in recent years, but we need to be very clear about the intent behind the migration pact. This pact is not driven by humanitarian responsibility towards those seeking shelter and refuge on this island or across the EU. If it were, we would see real resources being put towards search and rescue in the Mediterranean. We would not be seeing the prospect of detention centres for those arriving without documentation. We know that under the Geneva Convention, a lack of documentation is not illegal. Anybody with an understanding of the treacherous journeys that people have to undertake in order to flee war or persecution will tell us that they do not wake up in the morning and just book flights. They have to come here by all sorts of means.

If we were actually concerned and if the drivers behind this migration pact at EU level and those putting it forward here in Ireland were concerned about those who come to our shores, they would be looking for more legal pathways for migrants to enter Europe in order that they are not exploited on their journeys or when they arrive. While there are parts of the pact the Labour Party would support in terms of the need to standardise the approach to accepting, welcoming and living up to our responsibility to take in those fleeing war, persecution or extreme and grinding poverty, we need to be clear as to what exactly is happening. It is really regrettable that we have been presented with this motion, which, in effect, is an attempt to rush the transposition of the migration pact. It is an attempt by the Government to look tough when the reality is that we have not had a proper conversation - I do not believe we have anyway - in this country about the type of asylum and migration system we should have. It is a real shame that we have not had that conversation because, as I understand it, the migration pact does not need to be transposed until 2026.

We are told that we are going to be an outlier if we do not transpose the pact. However, the reality is that Ireland has always had a proud tradition in the context of European legislation whereby if we do not like it, we will take our time with it. There is an irony here in that while we are dragging our heels on environmental laws or workers' rights legislation, there is an attempt by the Government to try to rush the pact through.

While there are many who claim that Ireland is struggling with migration at the moment and the tents are obviously a manifestation of that, I think the reality is that we have seen a Government policy of what is effectively deterrence towards asylum seekers in Ireland in recent years. The commitments made in the context of setting up large-scale reception centres have not been delivered on. We again hear reports over the weekend of inconsistent information among members of An Garda Síochána with regard to the emergency referral system to IPAS for those who land in Dublin and are looking to claim asylum. Their tents are effectively being moved away by gardaí, but those people have nowhere to go. The Garda, as we understood it, should be working closely with IPAS and the IPO but, again, there were a number of gardaí in Dublin over the weekend who were saying that they will arrest people if they set up tents again. That is not good enough, and I would like the Minister to bring that back to the Garda Commissioner. We are told there is supposed to be a good functioning system between IPAS and An Garda Síochána but that does not seem to be working.

Regarding the numbers that have been coming to our shores, and I know it has already been referred to here, the reality is the numbers in Ireland this year are fewer than last year or the year before. We need to be clear on that. While there is this conversation about trying to accommodate those who are coming to our shores, the reality is that the numbers are actually going down. Of course, Ireland has taken a relatively small number compared with other EU member states. It is 1.174% of all applicants across the European Union. While it might be more per capita than other small countries like Finland, Croatia or Slovenia - and we need to ask questions of those countries - it is dwarfed by other countries. It is really regrettable that Ireland could do an awful lot more on the EU stage and say that we are encouraging other countries to do the right thing in this migration pact. Instead, we have taken a really conservative, regressive view, which will see the manifestation of detention centres, and effectively paying off countries like Libya and Egypt to deal with problems we should be dealing with ourselves.