Mattie McGrath urges calm, fair debate on rising immigration
Mattie McGrath spoke on 6 December 2022 about immigration levels and called for a calm, reasoned debate. He distinguished refugees fleeing war from other migration and highlighted a rise in applications from Algeria, citing fewer than 100 in 2021 and 1,318 in the first ten months of the year.
Key points
McGrath asked for a respectful, evidence-based discussion on the influx of immigration, saying the issue is worrying people across the country and should not be allowed to fester.
Immigration figures cited
He contrasted arrivals of people fleeing war with other migration and pointed to specific figures from Algeria - fewer than 100 applicants in 2021 and 1,318 in the first ten months of the current year - as reasons to examine trends.
Call for respectful debate
McGrath emphasised the need for a calm, reasonable and fair debate in the chamber, warning against shouting others down and noting the timeliness of the discussion around Christmas.
Government response
A ministerial speaker assured Deputy McGrath that the Government is working on all strands of inward migration, including people fleeing the war in Ukraine and those seeking international protection, and that a further Cabinet Committee on the issue will meet on Monday. The Government said it remains obliged to fulfil its international responsibilities.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Councillor O'Rourke, Business Committee, and he raised it last week, that we need, on behalf of rural independence, a calm and reasoned debate on the influx of immigration and immigration into our country. I'm not talking about refugees fleeing war. I'm talking about staggering figures that are there from places like Algeria, where less than 100 have applied in 2021, and indeed a staggering 1,318 have applied in the first 10 months of this year. So we need to look at this. We're not living in an echo chamber in here. The whole country is talking about this and are worried about it, and we need to have a proper and reasonable and fair and respectful debate about it. And we need it, and Christmas has come, as you know, and we need this debate, not let it fester and drag on. It needs to be held and respectful, not people shouting anybody else down. Everybody's entitled to have their say in this chamber, thanks to you, Concola and your last Concola. In relation to migration, I just want to assure Deputy McGrath that the Government is working very hard on all strands in relation to inward migration, people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and also those seeking international protection. And there will be a further Cabinet Committee on that issue on Monday of next week that will take place. But we do have an obligation to fulfil our international responsibilities, and we will continue to do that. Thank you. You
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
