Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)

This Private Members' business debate gives us an opportunity to speak on migration and the international protection system, one that has been pushed into chaos for years by Government mismanagement. The reality is that there has been no coherent, planned or capacity-based approach to migration. There is no serious attempt to match arrivals with the realities of our housing system, public services or the capacity of our communities. Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have allowed the international protection system to fall into permanent crisis.

As a State, we have an obligation to manage migration, not to simply allow it to be shaped by global forces, market forces or profit motives. Migration must be managed in the interest of the people. This means balancing our need for workers in key sectors such as health with the realities of a housing crisis, the capacity of public services and our humanitarian obligations to those fleeing war and persecution.

The Government's mishandling of migration has been a disaster. There has been no considered management of migration that takes into account the ability of society to integrate or the capacity to house those who come here. Economic migration has been guided almost exclusively by the needs of corporations, with little consideration for broader social goals.

At the moment, applications and appeals take too long. Deportations, where those are the lawful outcome, are not being enforced. Senator Ahearn pointed to recent figures but according to my figures, a total of 2,846 deportation orders have been signed in 2025 and only 275 of them have been confirmed. Perhaps the Minister will confirm what the real figures are. A rules-based system only works if the rules are applied at every stage. The public needs to see that the process is fair, efficient and consistent.

Meanwhile, a small number of private operators are making millions of euro from a dysfunctional, privatised IPAS system. The cost to the State has spiralled to over €1.2 billion this year alone. We have companies with no experience, companies named in CAB investigations and companies supplying unvetted staff, all receiving vast sums under a system that has little transparency or oversight. The Comptroller and Auditor General has now confirmed what we in Sinn Féin have been saying for years: the system is wide open to abuse, and that must end. We have been calling for a review of all IPAS contracts, an end to planning exemptions and a new approach to locating accommodation, one that begins with assessing the capacity of communities, not the profit margins of private operators. Communities deserve real engagement, and that has not been happening at all.

We opposed the Government's decision to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact. It hands over powers that should rest here where the unique realities of the Border and the common travel area must be considered.

Similarly, the extension of the temporary protection directive to 2027 was nodded along with zero discussion of its financial or social impacts. Now we are seeing a sharp rise in arrivals directly linked to that decision. We cannot keep extending "temporary" measures indefinitely. People need clarity, they need certainty and they need pathways, not limbo.

That brings me to what I believe is one of the greatest cruelties of the current system. Too many people are being left in limbo for years - some for over a decade - building lives and families, contributing and raising children, and then suddenly, with one swift blanket decision, the Government decides they can no longer stay. That is not good policy. That is not humane, and it is not how a rules-based system should function for people.

As someone who is mixed race and a migrant, I abhor racism, which I have experienced myself as well as xenophobia. This cannot be a discussion around the colour of someone's skin. It never should be. This is about fairness, but the Government has created a vacuum where people can just jump in and say all sorts of things. We have seen so many incidents across Ireland over the last while and a very big incident. People are protesting outside accommodation centres where people live with their children. The Government has not responded very well at all to that.

This is about building a system people can trust, both those who live here and those who want to come here and seek a new life for themselves. If I want to go to another country tomorrow to seek asylum, I would be expected to go through the proper channels. I would also have to meet the criteria, and if I did not meet them, of course I could appeal the decision, but if my appeal is refused then that country has a right to send me back. That is what we need to implement here as well. If you are not here lawfully and you have gone through all the channels, if you need to be deported, you need to go. People on both sides of the House have said that.

What is not fair is people left waiting years for a decision. What is not fair is when families live in fear of a knock on the door to say that they are not welcome here and they are to be deported, without any actual reasons. What is not fair is a system that lets people settle deeply into communities, only to uproot them without warning. What is not fair on anyone is a Government that has created so much confusion, secrecy and uncertainty that it has allowed fear to grow, division to take root, and vulnerable people to be used as political scapegoats.

We must also acknowledge what we saw in Drogheda, an horrific act that could have cost people's lives. There can never be any tolerance of racist attacks. Those responsible must be held accountable, but we cannot ignore the truth: the Government must also be held accountable for the failures that have created fertile ground for anger and confusion. When there is no clear system, no clear engagement, and no clear communication, bad-faith actors rush in to fill the vacuum.

This Fine Gael motion tries to point the finger elsewhere, but the simple truth is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in government for a decade. This did not happen last night. There have been decades of bad policy. They built the system and they broke the system. We need to restore confidence in our policies and in how our migration system works. We need to get real about the facts and exactly what is happening in a system that has failed for many years.