Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A report yesterday and several other reports have indicated that one in four women in this country is a victim of domestic violence. Therefore, the suggestion that women are at risk from other people coming into this country is pretty hard to take or listen to. There are challenges no matter where you are and no matter who you are, particularly for women. Senators need to reflect on the types of accusations they are making here and how they feed into so much of the divisive, nasty and racist rhetoric across the country. When we talk about this, I am very conscious that we are talking about people, as my Green Party colleague has stated very clearly. So many of the people we are talking about are fleeing war and persecution or dealing with climate catastrophe in their countries and seeking a better life.For centuries, we as a people have travelled to every corner of the world to seek a better life. Perhaps we have not always received the welcome that we would have liked. However, we know we have gone and contributed, and in the same way inward migration has been extremely positive for this country. Half a million people who work in this country were not born in this country. We are certainly enriched in our culture, traditions, heritage and the contributions they make to every part of our society in our healthcare, hospitality, transport, food and agriculture sectors - in every part of our community. As I said yesterday, when my little boy was young and was in hospital, half of the doctors and nurses minding him were not born in Ireland or Europe. They have come from every corner of the world. We would be lost without them, which we need to acknowledge.