Danny Healy-Rae: Ireland has done more for refugees but cannot sustain it
Danny Healy-Rae said Ireland has, for its size, done more for asylum seekers and refugees than any other country in Europe and warned the state cannot indefinitely sustain current levels of support. He praised legally resident migrant workers for their contribution to hospitals and urged stronger controls and enforcement for those without legal status.
Danny Healy-Rae asserted that Ireland has done more for asylum seekers and refugees than any other European country and cited a figure of 1.2 million spent "again for last year" on refugees, arguing this demonstrates significant national effort and cost.
He warned that competing demands for housing, health and social welfare strain public services and emphasised that the State has finite resources, noting the absence of natural resource windfalls and saying there is a limit to what can be afforded.
He commended the minister for extraditing people who do not have a legal right to stay and argued for clearer controls on residence status, comparing Irish practice to other countries and noting the difficulty of securing long-term residency in places like the United States.
He welcomed legally resident workers of many nationalities and praised those with permanency permits who work in hospitals and across the country, acknowledging their expertise and contribution to public services.
He referenced Poland and its proximity to Ukraine in the context of refugee reception, using that comparison to underscore differences in burden and approach between Ireland and other European countries.
Key claim of generosity
Danny Healy-Rae asserted that Ireland has done more for asylum seekers and refugees than any other European country and cited a figure of 1.2 million spent "again for last year" on refugees, arguing this demonstrates significant national effort and cost.
Pressure on services and resources
He warned that competing demands for housing, health and social welfare strain public services and emphasised that the State has finite resources, noting the absence of natural resource windfalls and saying there is a limit to what can be afforded.
Enforcement and residency rules
He commended the minister for extraditing people who do not have a legal right to stay and argued for clearer controls on residence status, comparing Irish practice to other countries and noting the difficulty of securing long-term residency in places like the United States.
Recognition of legal migrant workers
He welcomed legally resident workers of many nationalities and praised those with permanency permits who work in hospitals and across the country, acknowledging their expertise and contribution to public services.
International comparison
He referenced Poland and its proximity to Ukraine in the context of refugee reception, using that comparison to underscore differences in burden and approach between Ireland and other European countries.
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Transcript
to get the opportunity to talk about this very important debate here tonight and first of all I have to say that Ireland has for its size has done more for asylum seekers and refugees than any other country in Europe and that is a fact and we have to realize it and we're a small country and we're paying is it 1.2 million again for last year for for refugees I mean it's fine and we got to have done that but how long can this continue we have a lot of our own people with competing demands for houses for health social welfare and all the different things and we don't have the leprechauns push and that's the fact about it and yes I will commend Jim McCallaghan for extraditing people that don't have a right to be here that's that's what we want him to do if they if they don't have a permit and if they're not legally here we we can't support them we don't have gold mines or diamonds or oil or anything maybe we have but we won't be left drilled for it but and we don't have any of them natural resources and and we we haven't an endless amount of money so I I'm certainly and look we welcome all the different nationalities of people that are working here that are legally here and that I have permanency permits here who work in our hospitals and they work all over the country and do fierce work and we're very grateful to for them for all the way for all what they do and the expertise that they uh uh divulge uh in in our country but we we have to be honest this we we we must have some controls and we're talking I heard some deputy here say that if they're here five years I know people that have been over in America for 20 years and they can't get a green set to stay there so we we have to we have to be truthful and uh and and know what's going on in the rest of the world as well Poland Poland are the nearest country to Ukraine and they've have had haven't taken any amount like we have to do here and it's a girl