On Friday, the EU migration pact comes into effect. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have decided to opt Ireland into that pact. It was the wrong decision to hand over powers on migration to the European Union. We in Sinn Féin have made it clear that this pact undermines Irish sovereignty. We have told the Government that decisions on migration should be taken - must be taken - by the people of this country. We have also told it that the pact ignores our unique challenges and circumstances, especially that our country is still partitioned and that we share a common travel area with Britain. This pact will not fix the problems that the Government presides over in the international protection system. It will not end the outrageous level of profiteering that has made millionaires of a small number of people or address the Government's failure to engage with communities and protect social cohesion. It will not deliver the robust, fast, enforced system that we need and it certainly will not provide respect, dignity and a human rights based response for those who flee war and persecution for safety. Over the last year, the Minister for justice has spent a huge amount of time and resources preparing for the commencement of this pact and rushing the International Protection Bill through the Oireachtas. This was intended to give the impression that progress is being made in tackling the dysfunction in Ireland's international protection system, but the facts tell a very different story. In April, there were 20,469 appeals pending. That is up 8,000 from the same month last year. Between applications and appeals, there were over 33,000 cases pending in April 2026, so while the numbers of applicants for international protection made in 2025 dropped from the previous year, the number of cases pending has increased. That tells us that the system is clogged up and is not working. It is still taking 16 months for standard cases to be processed and a further 16 months for appeal. That makes it all the more incredible that it is only today that the Government is considering the appointment of a chief appeals officer. It is utter incompetence and it does not stop there. When it comes to those refused permission to remain, the Government does not know whether the majority have left or not and, scandalously, it has done nothing to secure a bilateral agreement with Britain. The truth is we do not need an EU migration pact to get on top of processing times, to stop the profiteering or to carry out deportations. What we need is a competent government and from the figures I outlined earlier, we can see that this Government is not that government. Ba bhotún mór é don Rialtas síniú suas do chomhshocrú an Aontais Eorpaigh maidir le himirce agus tearmann. Ba chóir go ndéanfaí cinntí maidir le himirce anseo in Éirinn. The Government's decision to opt into the pack to hand key decision-making powers to Brussels is wrong. Does the Taoiseach accept that this has consequences for Irish sovereignty? Does he accept that the absence of a bilateral agreement with Great Britain compounds this problem? Does he accept that his Government's handling of these issues undermines public confidence letting down both communities here and, crucially, those who come here in need of protection from war and persecution?
Sentiment score: 0.10
I am very, very sure of our ground on this and I am very sure where we are.
Sentiment score: 0.69
Let me spell it out for those at the back who maybe have not heard it clearly enough. Decisions relating to migration, justice and home affairs are rightly decided in Ireland by those elected by the Irish people. That is why we had a special provision. That is why there was a necessity for the Government to opt this country in. The Taoiseach says he has not conceded sovereignty. Of course he has, by the very act of opting Ireland into this pact he concedes that point.
Sentiment score: 0.10
The Taoiseach is happy not alone to be incompetent in his role but he goes a step further and hands those decisions away to people in Brussels. We think that is wrong. We have consistently argued that is the wrong approach.
Sentiment score: -0.33
Let me tell the Taoiseach that he is in geographic denial as well. This country is still partitioned and the Taoiseach has not secured an agreement with Britain.
Sentiment score: -0.16
That is a dangerous, dangerous place to walk us into.
Sentiment score: -0.74
That is a contradiction in terms.
Sentiment score: -0.25
That is a contradiction in terms.
Sentiment score: -0.25
Until Brussels says otherwise. That is the point of conceding competence.
Sentiment score: 0.00