Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2015
601. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her Department's policy on migrants, including access to accommodation, employment, and legal protection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38360/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy will appreciate that his question is a very broad one and not all of the elements of it come under my Department's remit, even though, as Minister for Justice and Equality I have overall responsibility, on behalf of the Government, for Ireland's immigration system and policy.
When we talk about policy in relation to migrants we are really referring to non-EEA nationals and my reply relates to that cohort as EU nationals enjoy rights of free movement and can take up employment or operate businesses on much the same basis as Irish citizens.
My Departments overall policy on migrants is informed by a number of considerations. These include:
- what is in the best social and economic interests of the State;
- the security of the State and the people within it;
- Ireland's international obligations, for example those international protection and refugees;
- maintaining the integrity of the Common Travel Area;
- Fairness.
Policy in this area is essentially a matter of balancing the sometimes competing interests. Operationally the objective is to facilitate the coming to Ireland of those whose presence here is beneficial to the State, for example tourists or high skilled workers, etc. while protecting the State's borders against those whose presence would be harmful or otherwise undesirable.
Determining Ireland's need for non-EEA workers and the policy choices around that are matters for my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and dealt with at an operational level through the employment permits system. Employment rights similarly fall under the remit of that Minister. My Department will facilitate entry and residence to those granted an employment permit by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, assuming that there are no security or related concerns. Other non-EEA nationals are permitted to work by virtue of their immigration status, in particular those holding a Stamp 4 immigration permission.
Ireland has always lived up to its obligations and will continue to do so in the area of international protection, whether it is through processing cases for asylum and other protections for persons who claim asylum here or through specific programmes aimed at addressing international crises. In this regard, in September, the Government approved a package of measures - the Irish Refugee Protection Programme - which provides for a total of 4,000 persons to come to Ireland under the programme either through Resettlement of refugees from countries close to the conflict regions or under the EU Relocation Programme which is designed to alleviate the pressures on other EU Member State such as Italy and Greece.
Apart from those persons in the direct provision system, resettled refugees or those who will come to Ireland under the EU Relocation programme, my Department is not responsible for matters relating to accommodation and cannot confer entitlement via the immigration system to public housing or other services. Eligibility determination is a matter for the relevant Departments and agencies although they will generally have regard to immigration categories in doing so.
