The Irish public “did vote for” the EU Migration Pact when they voted for the Lisbon Treaty, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said.
During a Dáil debate last night, Independent TD Mattie McGrath put it to McEntee that her government was “hellbent” on opting in to the EU Migration Pact, “when we should be opting out.”
“The Government will not put the question [of this Pact] to the people because it knows what answer it will get,” the Tipperary TD said.
“It got a freagra uafásach in the referendum,” he said, referring to the recently defeated Family and Care referendums.
“So it has decided to just put it to the Houses of the Oireachtas in a set amount of time and to use the Government’s contrived majority to ensure it passes.”
He added: “People are concerned about this further ceding of our national sovereignty to unelected bureaucrats in the European Commission.”
McEntee replied that “this pact is not being forced on anyone,” and claimed that the public had, in fact, voted for it.
“The people did vote for this – they voted for it in the form of the Lisbon Treaty,” she said.
“They did not vote for this,” McGrath shot back.
“The [Lisbon] Treaty clearly sets out that migration is an EU competence,” McEntee continued.
“What we fought for was the option to opt in. The only obligation from a constitutional perspective is that both Houses agree this. That is exactly what we are doing.”
She went on to claim that the Pact was simply about “upgrading and improving” Ireland’s asylum measures.
“To be clear, nothing is being forced upon us,” she said.
“We are deciding to opt into a set of measures that we are already a member of. We have been part of a common European asylum system since 2009.
“This is about upgrading and improving the measures and ensuring that our system is more efficient and effective. The Pact does not force anything on anyone here.
“It will ensure that we are in a position to provide protection more quickly to people who genuinely need it and to return those who do not – there are many – to the countries from which they came.”
Some politicians have raised concerns about the Pact’s potential impact on national sovereignty, with Independent TD Marion Harkin raising this point during a lengthy discussion on the Pact last night in an Oireachtas Justice Committee meeting.
“Areas where we had sole decision-making power, we will pool that decision-making – which does mean we are ceding sovereignty,” she said.
“It’s not unconstitutional. It is constitutional. But we are now ceding sovereignty by pooling our decision-making. Because that’s what the overall EU treaties are about in the first place. And I think it’s important to establish that fact.”
However, other TDs have contested the validity of this argument, with Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell arguing that Ireland signing up to the EU Migration Pact does not create a “sovereignty” issue, because the Irish public voted for the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, having originally rejected the Treaty by referendum in 2008, and then being asked to vote again with certain adjustments.
“The Irish people made their position very clear on this matter – albeit, they had to make it twice,” he said.
“But they still made the decision ultimately in 2009. So the question of sovereignty doesn’t arise.”
He added: “…We haven’t had, for instance, trade sovereignty for quite a number of years as well – nobody is decrying that.”
Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell argues that Ireland signing up to the EU Migration Pact does not create a "sovereignty" issue, because the Irish public voted for the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 (after originally rejecting the Treaty by referendum in 2008, and then being asked to vote again… pic.twitter.com/AectCApwR8
— gript (@griptmedia) April 23, 2024