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

On our sovereignty, and it keeps being raised that we are handing away our sovereignty and we need to have a referendum, people very clearly voted when we voted for the Lisbon treaty that, when it comes to migration and security issues, we would have the option to opt in. This is not being forced on us. We have the option to opt in. That is what was voted for. The only measure we have to take is that we would engage in both Houses and that it would be passed by a vote in the Dáil and the Seanad. That is exactly what we are doing here. We have had numerous debates already this year. We have had engagement at our committees. We have had briefings for Senators and Deputies on any part or element of the pact. Any debate or any further engagement would have been facilitated if it had been asked for. What we are doing here now is saying we have a plan, the people have already voted for the competencies here and we as a country believe that we should opt into these measures because this is the best way to respond to and deal with what is a hugely challenging situation while at the same time saying very clearly we want to continue to protect those who are vulnerable and need our protection.

I will now respond to some of the issues that have been raised. In respect of detention, we are not talking about detaining people and I need to be clear about that. We are very clear on the border procedure, that individuals who are going through the border procedure, the shortened three months from end to end, would have to reside in a particular designated centre.That will not be a detention centre; it will be a designated centre. We are very clear on that. I cannot be any clearer. We are not talking about putting people in detention centres.

Issues around timelines and that we will not be able to achieve them were raised. I have already doubled the number of staff in the IPO. It has tripled the output. Only this week, I brought to Cabinet a memo outlining how we will put 400 additional staff in place, on top of the staff in the IPO and IPAS, the legal teams' processes and everything else we need, to get us to the point where we are ready to sign up in two years' time. If we need more, we will bring more business proposals and plans and will ramp things up. It is not just about staff. It is about the infrastructure and the buildings. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has also brought forward a plan to make sure we have those reception conditions and larger State facilities in place, as opposed to using private providers all the time.

There were also a number of suggestions that the solidarity mechanism is a penalty. It is not. We will get to choose what way we can provide solidarity. Again, it works both ways. We could ask for that solidarity at any given point.

On Denmark, as I said, we have an option to opt in, while it has an option to opt out. Denmark has not opted out of any of the Schengen measures. In fact, it has parallel processes in place, which it has always had for border migration.

The Attorney General's advice is never published. However, every step of the way, at every engagement and every time we have engaged on and developed this at a European level, it has been done in accordance with European law. Any legislation passed will have to go through the processes in the Houses, will have to have Attorney General approval, will have to be consistent, and will uphold European and international law.

On how fundamental rights are protected, it is enshrined through the pact that people have access to counselling, an interpreter and legal support, and that we identify those who are vulnerable at an early stage and protect children. As Senator Ruane outlined, we have put different mechanisms in place to make sure that children are protected, especially in respect of border procedure, and where vulnerable people are identified, they can also be supported.

The Libyan coastguard has nothing to do with the pact. The pact is about how people are processed when they arrive and how we can make sure the system is efficient and effective. There is no link or tie with the Libyan coastguard.

On the externalisation of migration and the pact, it is not correct that a country will be able to state that people who transit through amounts to a sufficient connection to a safe third country. We have very clear ways to identify what is a safe country. I have heard from many people that we have a lower number of safe countries than others do. We are looking at where a large number of people are coming from. Should they be coming here, if they are coming from safe countries? We could designate half the countries in the world but if nobody is coming here from those countries, it does not actually have an impact on our processing and the overall picture of things. We are looking at where the larger number of people are coming from. If those countries are not safe, we will not put them on a safe country list. We are clear about that. We are reviewing seven countries at present. I expect that review to be concluded in a very short space of time.

On opting into a number of the measures but not all of them, I do not see anything in the pact that will not benefit Ireland and that is not beneficial for it. There are many contradictions in what people said. Senator Keogan talked about and referenced the MRCI and migrant rights groups that support migrants and work to protect their rights. She talked about not providing the appropriate conditions but, in the same sentence, she referenced people who are coming here who have nothing to contribute and are not educated. At the same time, she has invited people with extreme and far-right views into our own community through some of the language she used. It is hard to understand some of the views of Members.

The overall objective of the pact is to make sure that we have a system that is firm and fair, protects those who genuinely need our protection and is firm with those who do not. It is also about having a way of identifying and removing those who genuinely do not need our protection.

I will finish where I started: inward migration is good for this country. It always has been. We are the better as a country for it. Our culture and society is enriched by it. In all our debates and conversations, we need to rise above the negative and divisive language that has fed into so much of the debate and discourse over the past number of months. We should always remember, to the initial point that was made, that we are talking about people here. We all want to make sure that people can live safely, can provide for their families, and can find the right place to do that, if it is in Ireland.