In the late 19th century, a young man left his native east Clare and climbed aboard a ship bound for the United States. When he arrived, he was unvetted and of military age but met no restrictions to his entry. He went on to become a butcher at Macy's in New York city and was naturalised as a citizen in Manhattan in 1899 at the age of 34. A copy of that certificate hangs in my office. That man was my great-grandfather. He returned in the early 1900s and bought and built the farm in Limerick where my father was born and grew up. In this context, I cannot stand here in good conscience and tell the Minister that the restrictive turn he and the Government have taken on immigration is to the benefit of the State, the people who live here or the people who want to come here. This Bill has many shortcomings, many of which we do not even know about. Many of the core tenets and policies of this Bill have not yet been published, which is an extraordinary situation for a Minister for justice to introduce. Such a practice reduces legislative scrutiny and proper accountability by the Oireachtas and is highly concerning. Core policy choices that have been deliberately left out of the Bill as published include family reunification, reception conditions, key detention safeguards and age assessment standards. All were raised in the pre-legislative scrutiny phase and many were in the general scheme. They are now being parked for later amendment. The term "legal counselling" is mentioned in the Bill and is never defined. There is no clarity about who will provide it, what qualifications will be required or what standards will apply. Importantly, if this legal counselling is incorrect, it will be far more difficult to reach the correct decision later. Second Stage of the legislative process in this House is about the principles of the legislation. Committee Stage is not designed to introduce entirely new substantive measures that affect liberty, family life and core access to justice. That means the entire legislative process is being sidelined today in an effort to force backbench Government TDs to approve the principles of a system that affect fundamental rights and liberties and issues of natural justice without seeing the protections that make it lawful. I do not see how any qualified barrister or solicitor in this House could possibly countenance such a vote, without also saying that legal principles, jurisprudence and their constitutional obligations do not matter. That this House, the primary legislative body in the country, which is full of lawyers, would pass a Bill it does not know the principles of, knowing it is likely stripping people coming to this country of their constitutional and natural rights - you could not make it up. This House is being given days to inspect a Bill with few basic definitions, which the Department has had years to create. A Bill that affects fundamental rights without adequate consideration is a level of Executive overreach I thought I would not see in this House and I am gravely concerned by it. Let me clear, if you are an immigrant or not, you will find me and my party in your corner. If you are languishing in emergency accommodation, your childhood bedroom, an extortionate and precarious rental situation or on a hospital trolley or if you are in need of disability care or have been plunged into poverty by this Government and every one preceding it, whether you are an immigrant, your parent is or you have lost count of how many generations were born in this land, you will find an ally in me and my party. Human rights are for all of us. They are a commitment to our shared humanity. They recognise we all get hungry, we all need a warm bed, we all seek to breathe free in a country where we can be our best selves and part of a society that supports and celebrates us. Human rights are sacrosanct. Finally, I raise the case of the family of Ms Oyekanmi who travelled to Ireland from South Africa three years ago with her three children in a well founded belief that she would meet the test for asylum but has now been served with a deportation order. Judging by the numerous emails I have received from our constituents - their neighbours in Dublin Bay South - this family has had a positive impact and their departure will be a significant loss to their community. If indeed the Government believes the asylum process has been operating too slowly, it is only right to acknowledge it by giving that family permission to remain.

Sentiment score: 0.20