Richard O'Donoghue Urges Tighter Entry Checks on Asylum Arrivals
Richard O'Donoghue addressed the minister on immigration and asylum, urging tighter entry checks and better screening of arrivals. He said he supports people coming to build a better life but criticised past failures to stop trafficked individuals and arrivals without proper paperwork.
Border and entry failures
Richard O'Donoghue argued that mistakes were made in the past and authorities were slow to "block the door". He said airlines allowed people to board with paperwork abroad who had no paperwork on arrival and that such people should have been turned back to the place that sent them.
Trafficking and public safety
He expressed concern about people brought or trafficked into the country for the wrong reasons and said there must be a way to identify and remove those who pose a danger to society. He warned that the system failed to whittle out individuals who are not genuine asylum seekers.
Welcoming migrants and integration
He emphasised that many migrants who come here to make a better life have become part of the workforce and integrated into communities. He said people in the country are welcoming, and cited settled nationalities who have built lives and integrated for the benefit of their children.
Legislative importance and balance
Richard O'Donoghue called the bill under discussion "very important," stressing the need to get it right — to look after those who need protection while also screening out those who should not be allowed to remain. He framed the argument as balancing compassion with the safety and security of society.
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Minister, mistakes have been made in the past, and we were slow to block the door. I personally do not have an issue with people coming into this country that want to have a better life here. I really do not. It does not matter what nationality they are, if they are coming in here to make them for a better life for themselves, and I know who they are, I do not have an issue. They have been part of our workforce, they have been part of rebuilding in Ireland. The problem I have is people that come into this country that we know nothing about, and we have had a lot of people come to this country doing nothing about. We have had people come to this country that look for asylum, and there were genuine cases. I do not doubt that. But we have had a lot of people that were brought in here and trafficked in here for the wrong reasons. I have an issue with that, and we were slow at closing the doors. We were slow at closing the doors on airlines. They were allowing people on aircraft from other countries landing here, and they had paperwork to get on the planes over there. They had no paperwork when they landed here. What we should have done at that time was turn them straight back to the place they sent them here in the first place. People in this country are very welcoming to anyone. They will do whatever they can to make people feel welcome. But by different things, people are also scared of the unknown. I am sure if somebody arrived to your house tonight and knocked on the door, would you open the door and invite them in if you did not know them? Would you open the door and invite them in if you did not ask them for the paper that you needed for them to enter your house? No, you would not. So why do we use one law for one thing and not another law for the other? This bill is very important. It is very important that we get it right. It is very important that we look after the people that are coming in here that need to be looked after. But it is also equally important that we have a way of whittling out the ones that we do not want here and that are out of danger to our society and everyone else's society around them. So this is not only coming from myself, it is actually coming from different nationalities that have actually settled here, have integrated here and have their life and their children's lives have been here, which will integrate into this country and I welcome that.
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