I thank all of the Deputies who contributed to the debate on the three days over which it has been held. I recognise that every Deputy who contributed made a point of emphasising that they want to acknowledge the important role played by migrants in our communities. It is commendable that every speaker did that. It is apparent that there is a very good understanding in the Chamber of the different types of immigration into Ireland. We discussed issues relating to international protection and asylum, as it is referred to, but there are other types of immigration, whether through the free movement provisions relating to workers in the European Union or the granting of work permits and visas that facilitate people who want to come here to work. It is unquestionably the case that asylum is more complicated from the point of view of the State than other types of immigration. Deputy Nash referred to issues in his constituency. There are issues in every other constituency. Referring to them indicates that asylum gives rise to challenges for the State and the public that do not arise if people come here, have accommodation available to them and do not need to be processed because that has been done in advance as a result of them receiving work permits. I will not have an opportunity to respond to every Deputy. I will refer to some of the broader themes of the debate. Sinn Féin Deputies consistently referred to the fact that we should not have entered into the migration pact and that it is not respectful of Irish sovereignty. They said that if Sinn Féin had been in government and controlled the Oireachtas, we would not have entered into the pact. Nonetheless, they said that they are supportive of two aspects of the pact, namely asylum and migration management and Eurodac. I disagree with what they said, as does Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, but I wish to advise my colleagues in Sinn Féin that we have a huge amount of leeway and capacity to put in place the domestic laws that we want to see apply in respect of asylum in Ireland. I ask Sinn Féin to move away from the myopic discussion about the pact and tell me and the Oireachtas what rules it would like to see operate in Ireland for our asylum laws. In effect, what we are seeking to do in the Bill is set out the rules that will apply in respect of individuals when they arrive in Ireland, how they will be processed, the legal requirement to ensure that their applications are determined in an expedited manner, how they will have the right to appeal and the rules that will apply in that regard. Rather than saying that it would not have entered into the pact, Sinn Féin needs to set out the rules it would like to see being applied, particularly as there is a huge amount of leeway available to Ireland when it comes to the application of our domestic laws. Deputy Gannon and others in his party referred to children. There was an emotive reference to the detention of children. It has to be pointed out that when it comes to the very limited circumstances where a child can be detained under the provisions of the Bill, that can only happen where it is in the best interests of the minor and safeguards the unaccompanied minor. It is not the case that we are trying to introduce some sort of detention scheme for children. This only arises in the context of section 2$ in circumstances where it is in the best interests of the minor. Another issue raised was that of family reunification. Obviously, our asylum laws and this Bill are very much moulded by the numbers of people applying. As stated previous, the numbers prior to Covid were small. I cannot ignore the fact that approximately 60,000 people have come to Ireland to apply for international protection since 2022. The Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I have examined family reunification. As the House knows, it was proposed that we would have a requirement for a three-year waiting period. Having listened to the opposition and to our colleagues in our parties, we will alter that to a two-year period. We are doing that on the basis of what has been said, but also on the basis of the European Court of Human Rights, which in the case of MA v. Denmark clearly recognised that a two-year waiting period is permissible. I will deal with the issue of legal counsel on Report Stage. It is a complicated issue. We have done our best to reform the system as best we can in the interests of fairness for everyone.

Sentiment score: 0.23