Gay Mitchell
Question:2 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Taoiseach if he plans to extend the role and responsibilities of the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach. [11485/01]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Ministerial Responsibilities.
The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is primarily responsible for the organisation of Government business in the Dáil and for the Government's programme for Oireachtas reform. He also oversees preparation of the Government's legislative programme and has responsibility for the Central Statistics Office. I have no plans at present to extend the role and responsibilities of the Minister of State.
Will the Taoiseach agree that Ministers of State at his Department in the past have played a useful role in co-ordinating across Departments certain areas of Government policies like European affairs? Will he also agree that there is a need for a Minister to co-ordinate immigrant affairs in the area of education, housing, social welfare, asylum seeking, anti-racism and xenophobia, many issues across Departments? Will he therefore agree that the Minister of State at his Department is ideally suited to such a co-ordinating role and, in the interests of proper integration of immigrants into the community—
The Minister of State is integrating the four Independents, and doing it well too.
—will he consider appointing a Minister of State or a Cabinet Minister – in this case I would suggest a Minister of State – to co-ordinate those issues in a proactive way?
The Deputy is correct in that useful work has been done in that area over recent years. The change in that regard occurred when the Public Service Management Act, 1997, which was designed to deal with this co-ordination role, was implemented. That has helped to initiate cross-departmental action. This happens in the area which has been mentioned. I chair the committee but the work of the committee is driven by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and it includes representatives of other Departments and agencies involved in providing immigrant services.
The needs of immigrants are sometimes common to Irish citizens from similar socio-economic backgrounds rather than to categories of non-nationals. Provision of services to immigrants is generally done as part of the mainstream provision of services and is not isolated. A Cabinet committee meets regularly and co-ordinates policy. The reception integration agency, the equality authority, the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations, a national consultative committee on racism and inter-culturalism and a public awareness programme, which was men tioned in the House last week, are co-ordinated under the umbrella of that committee. Representatives of the various agencies sit on that committee. We have had a lot of work to do in the past few years because of the number of immigrants who have come here. This committee has provided a good framework with which to deal with the issues pertinent to non-nationals.
The Minister has recently announced the development of a new immigration policy. He has legislative measures in place and he will introduce further measures. In summary, the cross-departmental group on immigration works well. The public consultation process on immigration policy works well and further announcements will be made shortly. The committee has also co-ordinated a study of international legislation and practice with regard to immigration. The system works in a different manner than in the past and the Public Service Management Act, 1997, allows for that.
The Tánaiste has forecast that another 300,000 immigrant workers will be required to meet the needs of the economy. Given the number of immigrants, including asylum seekers, already here, does the Taoiseach agree that it is likely that, in parts of Dublin for instance, the immigrant population will make up one in eight or one in ten of the population? It could be higher than that in some communities. This is a new development.
Is the Taoiseach aware that there is a great deal of racist and xenophobic comment being allowed go unchallenged? Does he agree there is a need for an overall body to take control of this? Some of the comments are dangerous and worrying. I ask the Taoiseach to consider putting a Minister or Minister of State in charge of co-ordinating these issues in a pro-active way.
The agency for reception and integration is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. A single committee consisting of Ministers, Ministers of State and officials co-ordinates the areas of housing, health and other areas. This arrangement works well. The racist and xenophobic comments to which the Deputy referred are a matter of concern. These incidents are increasing but not alarmingly so. Research shows that it is not a major issue but I am aware of an increasing number of cases.
The Minister has set up and the Government has resourced a public awareness campaign with a budget to try to help the inclusive nature of the inter-cultural society. That committee and its programme has commenced. It is made up and driven by a high level steering group. It is representative of ethnic minorities, social partners, relevant departments and agencies and people with special interests in this area. It commenced its work this year and I have no doubt it will be extended.
My experience on this is that many of the issues for immigrants, who come from widely different backgrounds, such as social and economic difficulties need to be dealt with in common with Irish citizens who have the same problems. Rather than deal with people in inner cities and in marginalised communities as immigrants it is better that they are mainstreamed through the services. That does not apply in all cases but it does in health, housing and other areas. The Reception Integration Agency which has to be put on a statutory footing is already working and managing the service for asylum seekers, it is doing a good job and has built up an enormous core of staff dealing with the issue. That is the best way to proceed. In the meantime the service is working.
Will the Taoiseach agree that the most effective way of mainstreaming asylum seekers is to give them the right to work, particularly those who have been here for more than six months and are still awaiting the outcome of the processing of their case? Arising from the Taoiseach's extensive reply when can we expect to see the tangible results of this working group on racism and the manifestation of the expenditure of the budget of the order of £4.5 million, which was decided and announced last October?
The public awareness campaign of that committee has already commenced. It is a three year programme and has started in schools and communities. It has total independence. I have seen at least one of its presentations and I expect there will be more of them. The committee had to come to an agreement with the ethnic minority groups and the other groups on how it would handle this issue. It is working well. The whole idea is to try to address racism and promote a more inclusive inter-cultural society. Its work will continue indefinitely. On the issue of employment, the process is beginning to achieve the results. The difficulty was that it did not have enough staff. We have now put several hundred staff into the area of dealing with applications. The situation has improved greatly.
What about the right to work?
The position is still as it was.
Why?
Some of these issues will continue to be addressed. Some of the people are involved in training schemes and in other programmes. Some of them are working anyway. That is an unsatisfactory position and an issue that has to be dealt with. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has given his views on that issue every time he has been on Question Time. The Reception Integration Agency and the public awareness campaign are helping to bed down this issue and to integrate immigrants into society.
I would like to intervene at this stage. This question is about the role of the Minister of State and it has strayed way outside into a big discussion on racism and refugees. That is completely out of order. I appeal to Deputies to relate their supplementary questions directly to the question on the Order Paper.
The immigrants have to relate to an independent Deputy before—
All I am asking the Deputies is to comply with standing orders and relate their supplementary questions to the question on the Order Paper and not to widen the scope of these questions. I will take supplementary questions on matters relating to the question on the Order Paper.
In the Taoiseach's reply to Deputy Gay Mitchell he indicated he might see a role for the Minister of State, Deputy Brennan, in the area of combating racism. Were the recent advertisements from Amnesty International brought to the Taoiseach's attention? These carried photographs of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
That was a disgrace.
Does he consider he has a case to answer or was the advertising unfair in his view?
The Deputy should put down a separate question on that.