Independent TD Carol Nolan has told the Dáil that the interests of the Irish people must come first regarding the EU Migration Pact.
Speaking today during a debate on a motion on the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, Deputy Nolan said she welcomed the opportunity to debate the issue which she said is presently “front and centre in the minds of the vast majority” or Irish people.
“Issues around asylum and migration, legal and illegal, have now politicised and woken up entire generations that were detached or indifferent to the political process,” the Deputy told Taoiseach Simon Harris.
The Laois Offaly Independent went on to say that “entire communities” are “now alert to the policy trajectory in this area and what they are seeing frightens them.” Deputy Nolan said people feel an “absolute sense of loss of control.”
“They feel that even their most peaceful efforts to ask questions, to raise concerns, are being framed as borderline criminal and as a stealth form of cultural anarchy,” she added.
“We have a police force in the Gardaí who are wondering how on earth normalised community relations can return in the context of an expected influx of 15-20 thousand international protection applicants annually over the next few years,” she said.
The Independent politician claimed that the EU Pact was the result of a “long and contentious process,” adding: “Some see that as evidence or confirmation of the allegedly democratic nature of the agreement.”
“But that presupposes the existence of European Union structures that actually cares about what ordinary people think. And that, Minister, is a highly debatable contention.”
“If anything, the EU and its endless procession of Directives and Regulations have smothered democracy in this state and we know this because as one of your own MEP’s put it, at least 70% of Irish legislation now comes from the EU,” the Deputy said.
She claimed Ireland is in effect “a colonial outpost of an EU regulatory empire” whose sole function in many regards is “simply to transpose those EU laws while giving the process a veneer of democratic legitimacy.”
“Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in this Pact,” Deputy Nolan added.
“Does this Pact contain some useful principles? Yes. We all want more effective processes. None of us, I hope, support the idea that our countries generosity should be abused and trampled upon under the guise of some mistaken concept of political virtue,” Nolan said.
However, she insisted that the “crux issues” revolve around the cost of the legislation on a number of fronts.
“What is the cost politically? What is the cost in terms of the constitutional principles around sovereignty? What is the financial cost? What is the social and cultural cost?” she asked.
“There is an old saying Minister that the cure must not be worse than the disease. That is a sound principle in all areas of life not just the political.
“In light of that I genuinely fear that this Pact when seen in the round will make things worse for Ireland and that is my only concern.”
Deputy Nolan said that the pact may support EU member states such as Italy and Greece, but questioned: “What will be the cumulative impact on this country and on our people?”
“I am here to stand up for and give voice to the Irish people first and Foremost,” she said, adding: “We have been here before of course.”
“We all remember the endless chatter about the importance of EU solidarity mechanisms during the financial crash of 2008.
“But tell me Minister, who ended up on the hook for billions when our so- called EU partners forced us to bail out the EU banking system?
“Who is still paying the cost for that 16 years later? We are.
“I say this not to rehash ancient history. I say it because incidents like those should alert us to be ultra cautious whenever EU elites bang the solidarity drum and expect us all to get in line or else.”
Deputy Nolan referred to the ongoing row between Britain and Ireland as the fallout from the Rwanda plan continues.
“Minister, this week alone we have all seen ample evidence of how handing over our immigration policy to the EU has stymied any chance of resolving such issues bilaterally with our neighbours in the United Kingdom,” she said.
“They will not assist us in returning asylum applicants because they say they will only deal with the EU as an entire entity and not us individually.
“This demonstrates the unwieldy and frankly stupid policy requirements at work here. Requirements that we will be embedding even further on acceptance of this EU Pact.
‘DIVISION BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND ITS OWN MEMBERS’
“We have also seen reports from Fionnan Sheehan that you, Minister McEntee, are not receiving support from Government and that you are being hung out to dry.
“In that regard I am reminded of what Winston Churchill said: “The opposition occupies the benches in front of you, but the enemy sits behind you.”
“This points to the disarray and the division between Government and its own members on this issue, not to mention the Irish public,” she said.
Deputy Nolan claimed it was the case that “for the better part of two years,” unnamed government TDs have expressed “rising anger and frustration” at the level of government disconnect on the asylum issue.
“Indeed, 22 months ago I told Minister Darragh O’Brien of how one Fine Gael TD described the UK’s Rwanda Plan as a train coming down the tracks that we had no way to stop. What has happened since then, minister?” she pressed.
“What have you been doing in that 22 months to try and address that issue and why is It only in the last week that the issue has returned to sour Irish-UK relations?”
“It is clear to everyone that this is a government desperately searching around for a scapegoat upon which it can load the sins of its own Incompetence,” Deputy Nolan added.
The TD also referred to FOI data obtained by Gript’s Gary Kavanagh that revealed that even the government’s own officials were expressing “unprecedented alarm” at the proposals “that would have destabilised our entire immigration system.”
As reported by Gary Kavanagh, documents provided to Gript under FOI showed that senior officials in the Department of Justice believed that amending Article 41 of the Constitution to include non-marital families, as proposed by the Government in a recent referendum, would undermine, or even outright destroy, the ability of the State to operate an effective immigration system.
One email seen by Gript showed senior officials in the Department being told that “The State has been able to maintain an immigration system so far precisely because Article 41 is applied to a small, tightly-defined group of people. The State will not be able to regulate immigration if this protection is applied any more widely.”
“These concerns may have been part of a scoping exercise prior to the referenda, but it is undeniable that officials within the Department have significant concerns around decisions or agreements that remove their capacity to act with discretion,” Deputy Nolan said during Wednesday’s address.
‘THERE IS SIMPLY NO TRUST LEFT’
“Will we find out in six months time when another FOI request goes in that your officials are also expressing horror and alarm at the impact of the EU Pact? Will you tell us now if the immigration units of your Department have identified such concerns or will we only find out that when the deal is done and the legislation passed?” she asked.
“Minister, one understanding of what a pact is, is that it is a covenant between people. What I am hearing on the ground however is that the sacred covenant between this government and the Irish people has been broken. There is simply no trust left,” the Independent added.
“People do not believe what you are saying.
“You talk about listening and consultation, but your actions say otherwise. Your MEP’s have the gall to tell people that protecting our borders and talk of sovereignty is now far right rhetoric,” she added.
“On this as on so much else minister the government is now bankrupt of whatever political capital it had to bring people with them.
“We need to opt out. But we also need a general election to allow the people the opportunity to opt-out of your mandate to govern. The sooner both of these things happen the better.”