On the motion to opt into the regulation establishing the asylum, migration and integration fund, we should be clear about what we are discussing. This is a motion to give our assent to a package of nearly €12 billion to underpin the implementation of the EU migration pact. Along with others, we in the Labour Party have significant difficulties with that pact. Measures will be funded with this money. One of the objectives mentioned in the regulation is promoting and contributing to the effective integration and social inclusion of migrants. Previous iterations of the AMIF have played an important part in funding integration programmes and supports for international protection applicants but we should be very clear-eyed about this motion and the regulation behind it. It arises from a deeply flawed EU migration pact. We in the Labour Party fully endorse the idea that there is a need for a cross-EU approach to migration and migration policy but we had strong differences with elements of this pact. In particular, we felt that the pact would see the introduction of an asylum procedure that does not reflect basic rights or contain safeguards for vulnerable applicants. It could certainly lead to a worsening of conditions in both reception and detention centres, impacting directly on the dignity of human life and on human rights. As we know, the pact is the result of a move to the right in EU migration policy that risks undermining the right to claim asylum itself. In recent weeks, we have unfortunately seen this Government attempt a similar move. It has appealed to fears and prejudices rather than putting forward a positive case for migration or focusing on working towards a system that is fair, effective and humane. We have seen a concerted effort from Government involving negative messaging, symbolic exclusion and deterrence theatre on migration and the system of international protection. Concerns have been raised that the Government's legislation to transpose the pact goes further than it needs to. There is a risk that, in its efforts to follow populist rhetoric with ill-thought-through and rushed policy, the Government will go through the same process the EU has gone through and will arrive at a position where asylum is undermined and those with valid claims see their rights curtailed. What is more, as Ministers fall over each other to follow the lead of the UK Government with the greatest enthusiasm, they are feeding into the othering of migrants in Ireland. That puts people at greater risk of attack and it undermines community solidarity. If we lose that community cohesion and our reputation as a welcoming and open society, it will have really negative impacts. We all know how much Ireland relies on workers from abroad to support our infrastructure and housing investment plans, our foreign direct investment and multinational corporation sectors, our hospitality sector and particularly our health and social care systems. When leaders choose to cynically play politics on this issue rather than to lead, it puts all of that at risk. This Government should choose to lead. The Government's actions are having a very real impact. Two days ago, I spoke to a young woman who came to this country eight years ago to flee persecution for being a member of the LGBTQI community in her home country. She came here, she studied and she worked. She fell ill and is currently in receipt of illness benefit while she undergoes very serious medical treatment. With the right help and support, she will get through that treatment and return to work. She is a young woman with an awful lot to give. She is also a young woman with a letter stating that her status in this country is now in doubt and that she may have to leave and return to the country where she was persecuted. That is an Ireland I did not think existed last year, the year before or the year before that, but it is certainly the Ireland of November 2025, the Ireland this Government is shaping with its policies and actions. This Government should choose to lead and to proactively put forward a case for migration that not only acknowledges the positive impacts that it has had on this country, but that also acknowledges the realities. That would be an approach that recognises that immigration to this country is overwhelmingly regular migration, with international protection accounting for one in ten migrants. It would be an approach that would leave the tough-guy posturing at the door and an abandonment of mean-spirited efforts such as the Minister's proposed changes to citizenship and family reunification rules. The Labour Party, and I am sure others in opposition, have little faith that this approach will be taken given the actions, motions and direction this Government is taking. It is bringing Ireland to a more dangerous and unsympathetic country with less compassion. It is not the Ireland I want to live in.

Sentiment score: 0.03