Michael Fitzmaurice: Demands Faster, Firmer Immigration Procedures

First, Laetitia, I think everyone recognises that we need people coming into this country through the visa system. I think we need doctors, nurses, hospitality, all different types of workers and I think they are welcome in this country. But illegal immigration, from what we have read last night, we need to have a conversation about it. Most politicians are afraid at the moment, as indeed are ordinary people. When you go round the country and talk to the people, the elderly person, the couple here and there, and they talk to you one to one. They outline the problems they see, but they all say to you, sure what can we say because you'll be called a racist if you open your mouth. Last night, or this morning what we read in the paper is horrendous and I won't go into that in detail, but the one question I do ask is if somebody, regardless of who they are, is six years in the country, if six months ago a deportation order was issued and the state is still paying for that accommodation, there is something seriously wrong. If we look over the last year or 18 months, unfortunately in this country, we have seen a huge upsurge in knife crime. We have seen a huge upsurge in weapons being wielded that we never saw in this country. We have seen some cultures treating women as second-class citizens, which is not acceptable. In the whole immigration process, the government had said that they would process an applicant within six months. That has not happened. It is going on four, five and six years. I am asking you, when will that be resolved? Our system is broken at the moment. You have admitted that we have an influx of youngsters and accommodation is very scarce. Donald Tusk has decided in Poland, because of the influx that they had, and they couldn't cope with it, to get a suspension with the blessings of Europe under the Migration Act. With the pressure that is in our system at the moment, would you consider that? Would you consider having a full debate in here without people being, you know, put into corners, whether they are right wing or left wing or whatever? That needs to happen. And the fear of talking about this has to be basically got away that we, as representatives of people around the country, say what we are hearing on the ground. I am asking you, Tisha, will you do those things that I am asking? Thank you, Deputy Tisha. Thank you for raising the issue in a responsible way. I want to acknowledge that in a fair way, because people are worried and people are anxious. And I think also you made a very fair point at the outset, that you are not criticising migration generally, or the fact that we now have essentially, you know, a country and a society that has evolved with many, many people of different ethnic origins who live in the state, who are Irish as sure as an X-man is. And we need proper tolerance and equality on that front. As you correctly said, in our hospitals, in our healthcare facilities, in our technology companies, the fact that we have absorbed and can draw on a lot of human capital has been a very important ingredient in terms of societal development and economic development, and that needs to be acknowledged. The process of seeking asylum in the country has come under huge pressure in recent years. And particularly post-COVID-19, the numbers increased dramatically. And side by side with that, we had the war in Ukraine, which caused the displacement of about 12 million Ukrainians. We also have the weaponisation of migration by Russia, when you instance Poland. So it's no, on the borders of Lithuania and Latvia and so on, right across Poland, Russia's weaponising migration, sending migrants in to these countries as part of its wider war effort. But to get back to Ireland, the most specific issue is, I agree we need a faster and firm procedure in dealing with those seeking asylum. The majority, I think 60 or 70%, are adjudged to be economic migrants as opposed to seeking asylum from refuge. That's if you take some of the outcomes of the process. The IPO is processing much faster, and the accelerated cases are within the six months. But yes, the appeal system can take a bit longer, but the Minister is working with a set of proposals in terms of speeding up the appeal process. About 3,500 deportation orders were signed this year, compared to about 2,400 last year. Of those, about 1,600 have been confirmed as having left the country, either through voluntary departure, or through deportation flights and other mechanisms. And I think overall, the number of seeking asylum is down this year, by about 30%, maybe 38%, sorry, about 38%. There can be different factors responsible for that. But we do need fast, firm procedures in managing the migration issue. And that has to be consistent, and it has to be sustained. This government took the decision to bring all this back within the Department of Justice, which was the correct decision in my view. And I think progress has been seen in respect of that. I would agree that there is no harm at all, and we should have a proactive debate on these matters. Thank you, Tisha. I do acknowledge that the Minister for Justice, I have had a few conversations with him, and I do acknowledge that he is trying to make changes. I do acknowledge that. But the reality is that it is neither good to the person that is looking for asylum or to the state if something is dragging on for six years. That is the facts about it. And I do think, Tisha, that, you know, two years ago, I chased up on how you basically identify somebody and how it is done, and we were told by the Guardian at the time that it was basically foolproof. It has since been proved it is not foolproof. And I think we need to make sure, in relation to identification that we know who is coming into the country. I welcome what you have said. I welcome that we do need a debate here. I do welcome that we do need to tighten up and bring in new legislation that this is not dragging on for four or five or six years, because accommodation-wise, we will not be able to sort it. And on top of that, as a country, with what it will cost, we will not be able to afford it. Thank you. Thank you. Just to say that all those seeking asylum are fingerprinted when they come into the country under the Eurodoc system. And in 2024, 67 per cent of completed appeals were rejected. And so far, in 2025, more than 80 per cent of applications have been rejected at first instance. And I accept your point that if people are here, it is neither fair to the person or to the country if the system is allowed to drag out for years and years. And that is where the focus has been in the last number of years, to tighten up and to speed up the process itself. We have more than doubled now the number of deportation orders signed over the same period last year. The specifics are 3583 orders have been signed in 2025, compared to 1792, it says here on the note I have it. I thought it was a higher figure at this time last year. And there has been about a 40 per cent reduction in the numbers of people arriving here and claiming asylum. But there are issues. You know, there are issues that we need to tighten up on. And that concludes the leaders' questions.