This Bill has been introduced n line with the trend that we are seeing internationally where there has been an attack on the rights of migrants, immigrants of all kinds and, in particular, asylum seekers and refugees. Last year, 4,700 deportation orders were issued by this State, which was an increase of 96% on the previous year. The number almost doubled. TDs from many different parties in here jumping up and down about deportations last year. Fifty of those deportation orders were for people from Palestine and Sudan, which we all know are areas where massive genocides are taking place. Since entering office, the Minister has employed this tough man image whereby he will virtue signal to people on the far right or people who have racist views that he is getting tough on immigration, including with his chartered flights and now with this Bill. That is part of a wider fear-mongering campaign that is being undertaken by the Government and that has a significant effect on the consciousness of people. The ESRI has found that people overestimate the foreign-born population and severely overestimate the number of asylum seekers here. They also underestimate the number of immigrants coming here for work by a shocking 30%. This means that when people see someone of colour or from a migrant background, they assume they are not legal or are either an asylum seeker or refugee. That is borne out by research the ESRI has done. This is the State's attempt to blame a small minority of refugees for things like the housing crisis. Recently, the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, stated it much more vocally and publicly than would have been the case heretofore when he made a comment to the effect that a significant number of people in emergency accommodation have no right to housing in this country. I would not call it a dog whistle, because it was fairly blatant. Asylum seekers generally are abhorrently treated. Four hundred refugees were told in December that there was no accommodation for them, and they were basically forced to live on the streets in a climate where racism and hostility are rife and in circumstances where the far right in this country is growing. Immigrants in general, people who have migrated into this country who are working here, are also badly treated in the sense that they show up disproportionately in the homeless figures or are at risk of poverty compared with Irish people. I see that in my constituency, where many of those being evicted are migrants, people who have been working and living here for a long time but who do not have the same support systems and are stuck in the private rented sector. This Bill is meant to clamp down on asylum seeking. It has been introduced when the number of asylum seekers decreased hugely from 2024 to 2025. There were only 669 successful requests for family reunification in 2025. That is less than 1% of all immigration. The key things to highlight in this Bill that are really dangerous, at a time when the case of an Irish person being held in an ICE detention centre has been highlighted, which is obviously horrific, is that our Government is moving in a similar direction. We have not set up ICE detention centres and we have not got ICE on the street, but there are some trends emerging. For example, under this Bill, people making applications for asylum will need to show up to so-called screening centres where their applications will be screened. They will fill out the forms there and so on. Failure to do so under this Bill will allow gardaí to arrest and detain them. Refugees could be imprisoned and detained for not showing up. They might not know that they were supposed to show up. There could be all sorts of reasons for them not showing up. This is similar to what is happening in the US. They can also be detained if there is a fear that they will abscond after a decision against them staying in the country being made, and they can be detained without a warrant too. Sections of this Bill allow gardaí to search a person without a warrant and to detain them. This power also applies to children, which is the most horrific part of it, where the gardaí believe they need to determine their identity. As a result, we could see children being detained. We have also seen children who may have been born in Ireland being deported. Third parties will not be allowed to interfere in the duties of the officers undertaking these acts. If, therefore, people are taken away - and as we have seen in the US - nobody can inquire about them or go to assist them. The Bill limits the power of applicants to appeal decisions. There is a limit of a week to put in an appeal and there are no more guaranteed oral hearings. It will be up to the tribunal. It has been noted that age assessment under the Bill is not defined or explicitly laid out. This leads to much ambiguity about how assessments should be undertaken. The Minister is being given a wide range of powers. In the International Protection Act 2015, the chief international protection officer is independent in the performance of his or her functions. In the Bill, the equivalent of the international protection officer is simply the determining authority, which is defined as the Minister. The Minister can decide if an NGO can give information to an applicant, can direct the appeals body to prioritise an appeal and can remove the chief inspector if this is deemed to be in the interests of the Government or national security. The Bill will also include provisions to prevent those given refugee status from applying for family reunification for three years. This Bill has been heavily criticised by multiple NGOs. They have noted that it gives huge powers to gardaí to detain people, including the ability to arrest those who have been given deportation orders by the State, without a warrant. This Bill is meant, in no uncertain terms, to give the Garda and the State extra powers around immigration similar to those being used in the US. It treats all people, including children, exercising their right to seek asylum with suspicion.

Sentiment score: -0.16