Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I apologise for my throat but I will say a few words because it is an important motion. I thank my colleagues for tabling this motion and bringing the Minister of State in. I have listened to the Minister of State being interviewed on this on many occasions and he has showed empathy, humanity and practicality in dealing with the issue. The issue is complex, difficult and challenging, but it has to be embedded in compassion, empathy, decency and doing the right thing. By and large, we, as a nation, have done the right thing when it comes to looking after and supporting people who come to this country from the most troubled parts of the globe. They come to seek sanctuary from war-torn situations where people are literally hounded out of their homes, potentially facing murder and all sorts of crazy things. People come here for that sanctuary.

In more recent times, we have people coming here to get away from the war in Ukraine. Some 80,000 to 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland and they were welcomed with open arms by the vast majority of Irish people. To me, there is not a huge difference between the people from Ukraine seeking sanctuary and those from South Sudan, which is ravaged by war at the moment. It is the same thing and they are the same people. They are the same type of people. They are human beings, the same as us all. There is nothing different between any of us except the colour of our skin, the shape of our body, our appearance or our language. They are the only differences. At the end of the day, most human beings are essentially the same. Most human beings are decent, humane people. They have a sense of justice and fairness about them. Sadly, in some cases, circumstances tend to create a future and narrative that are not where we would like them to be. The whole sense of equality sometimes depending on your set of circumstances does not resonate in the manner in which we would like.

The Irish people, in general, overwhelmingly welcome people to this nation. Why? It is because millions of our ancestors and forefathers travelled the globe and contributed to many of the developed countries of the world, whether it was Australia, America, England or Europe. They made a significant contribution in the same way that people from the Philippines, Brazil and Argentina are now. I met the Argentinian ambassador this morning. There are approximately 6,000 Argentinians in this country, of whom 3,500 to 4,000 are working in the hospitality industry. People from the Philippines are populating our health services and if it was not for them, we would have an even worse crisis in our health service compared with what we have now.

I support this motion. It is appropriate that it is discussed here. It is absolutely appropriate that the Minister of State is here to discuss it. I have known the Minister of State for nearly 40 years at this stage and I know he is the right man to lead the conversation and the necessary changes in order to make the system fair. The one thing no one wants to see is a situation where a perception might be created that migrants are being treated in a different or more compassionate way than Irish people, because that is not true. We have to ensure that we push back against that narrative and ensure that our society is fair and respectful. That goes to all strands of our society. I wish the Minister of State well. It is not that I hope he does a good job but, rather, I know he will do a good job.