Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on his elevation to the leadership of the Green Party. I wish him the best of luck in everything he does with that in the next couple of months. While I welcome this discussion on migration, I echo Senator Seery Kearney's sentiments that it can, ultimately, make one very nervous. We can see how easy it is for snippets and conversations to become manipulated online and all sorts of things end up in all sorts of places. It is important, however, that we face into and have these conversations.

I reiterate what I have said many times before in this House, online and elsewhere, that migrants of all guises are welcome here in Ireland. We are an island that has traditionally extended the céad míle fáilte to all who come here, whether they are searching for a better life, looking for employment or fleeing war, famine or persecution. I have always held the belief that we should welcome fellow humans, it seems like such a technical term, to our shores and to try to see the humanity in others. It was great news to see that a record number of migrant candidates were elected to councils in last month's local elections. According to the Immigrant Council of Ireland, the number of candidates from an immigrant background rose from 56 in 2019 to more than 100 in the recent local elections. This is a great statistic to show how inclusive community and political life can be and we should strive to make the national Legislature more diverse and representative.

We cannot speak about the positives of how many people ran without also speaking about some of the unbelievably difficult experiences some of those candidates had. I can speak for my own party to say - I am sure this is the case across political parties - that some of the stories I heard included verbal vitriol, both online and in person, and language that I thought we had left behind long ago. It is important that all of us in political parties and none ensure that we provide that wraparound support for candidates and people who want to be involved in political life and that they go forward. If they were not successful in the election this time, as many people are not the first time, they should be supported to be able to do so again in the future.

We have seen Ireland transform for the better through migration and we have seen innovative ways of celebrating our migrant communities, such as the Africa Day celebrations in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, and the celebration of Eid al-Adha in Croke Park. We need only think of the song of the summer that has come out of Cork, namely, "The Spark" by Kabin Crew, which came from an unbelievable organisation on the northside of Cork that brings kids together. We can talk about the Trojan work that the Kabin Crew has done in working-class communities. It has brought working-class communities and the northside of the city together. On its Instagram page, there are clips from the likes of the Romani Crew and all the different communities it has brought together on the northside of Cork. Migrant youths who joined the Kabin Crew ten years ago as kids when it was first set up are now getting involved again and coaching the next generation of beatmakers. It is a magical example of bringing kids from a variety of backgrounds and cultures together in order to make music.

We need to talk about the Trojan work that is being done in many of our communities to challenge some of the rhetoric that has been going around. I must give a shoutout to the likes of Ireland for All and, in my own area in Dublin North-West, Finglas for All and Ballymun for All. I was part of the founding of both of those groups. They have done Trojan work in terms of welcoming migrants, asylum seekers and refugees to the area. The group is made up of activists and volunteers, some from political parties and others from none. It is a whole plethora of society that is united in welcoming refugees to our communities and in challenging misinformation and rhetoric around migrants. The Hope and Courage Collective use Ballymun for All as an example of how communities have worked to push back some of the misinformation. There were people out and about such as the Easy Street Team, who were talking to young kids about life. They talked about drug use and about who is welcome in our community and what kids are hearing. They were doing the most unbelievable work. They were challenging the idea that working-class communities are not welcoming places for migrants. Ballymun for All and Finglas for All have really pushed back on that and that is all because of community activists.

We need to do better. We constantly need to catch and challenge racism in this country. I often see the line "you do not get to be racist and Irish" but ultimately, the sad reality is that sometimes, racism is too common in Ireland. The vast majority of the time it is not but it would be remiss of me not to reflect on some of the statistics we have. A report from the Irish Network Against Racism from 2022 highlighted that 600 reports were received from the public about racism. This included 223 reports about criminal offences, excluding incitement of hatred. There were 190 reports about discrimination, 42 reports of other recordable racist incidents and a further 136 reports about racist hate speech. A report from last year entitled, Speak Out Against Racism, for the Irish Council for International Students, found that 63% of participants from its study reported that they had personally experienced or witnessed racism in Ireland. Verbal abuse was found to be the most common form of racism experienced by participants in the research. A quarter of all racist incidents occurred on the streets. Racism was also widely reported in social settings including pubs, restaurants, nightclubs, in the workplace and on public transport. While we have a situation where the vast majority of Irish people and all the groups like Ballymun for All, Finglas for All and Ireland for All are welcoming people and working night and day to make our communities great places for all of us to live in, there are people who consistently go out there and engage, whether it is on public transport, restaurants or nightclubs. I have heard awful stories from friends who are just trying to have nights out. Ultimately, those people still exist in society and we have to figure out what we are going to do about that.

I will talk briefly about the shortage of accommodation we have across society. I have said it before and I will say it again, I struggle to understand how we continue to have people saying that we are full in all sorts of language, when we have 160,000 vacant homes. I was never good at maths but even for me, the maths are not particularly mapping on this one. I want to ask the Minister for an update on the Baggot Street building. My colleague, Deputy Kelly, was out there today. He noted the state of disrepair into which the former hospital, a State-owned building, had fallen. Does the Minister or his Department have any intention of bringing this disused State-owned building back into use for emergency accommodation or for the many other suggestions as to what this building could be used?

One way in which we could challenge racism and xenophobia, but particularly racism and other forms of incitement of hatred or hate crimes, is by passing the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. This legislation has passed through the Dáil and though Second Stage in the Seanad but it has been a year since it was last debated in this Chamber. I asked the Leader of this House yesterday for an update on its status and she said that no Department officials had come to her requesting that she schedule further debate or further Stages of that legislation. I acknowledge that the Minister called for this legislation recently. It was part of his campaign to be leader of the Green Party. Is there a commitment from the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, to prioritise this legislation and on whether it will be passed in this House before the next general election? We are rapidly hurtling towards the general election that is looming over all of us.

I will end by reading the statement that was put up in Ballymun and was repurposed, for want of a better word, by many of the For All groups around the country.It relates to the abuse directed at refugees in particular. A number of us were signatories, as were community leaders, regular Joes, groups and organisations. It reads:

We stand in solidarity with the vast majority of the people of Ballymun in opposing the abuse and hatred directed at refugees and asylum seekers in Ballymun over the last few days. Men, women and children, be they residents or newcomers, should not fear for their safety in their homes or on our streets.

We know that only a small minority of people from the area are taking part, and the abuse is orchestrated by far-right groups. The people of Ballymun are generally upset with the ‘protests’, and they fear that the reputation of this welcoming and diverse community is being tarnished.

There are many things we need to fix in our area and in our country, such as housing and homelessness, poverty, social equality, drug treatment services, employment, health services, our environment and community facilities. We do not believe that these issues should be used by some groups to stoke up fear and hate.

As organisations and as individuals we are working and we will continue to work collectively to make our area better, bringing out the best in people and fighting for positive change.

It was important to read that into the record.

With a general election looming, we have to be wise to racist, anti-refugee, anti-asylum seeker and anti-migrant agitators who are looking to exploit these communities for their own gain by stirring hate and division. We cannot believe that these agitators are going to stop. The Minister and I both know that they are unfortunately not going to stop at just migrants. Women, LGBT people, the climate, workers' rights and many other things are also in the firing line. It is something we need to be aware of. The people who seek to sow division are not the community activists I work with every single day. Migrants and regular people are working to build something and to make Ireland their home and a safe place for all of us to live in. All of those groups are inevitably heavily involved with the migrants in our communities who are working very hard to make Ireland a better place for all.