Left-wing Opposition leaders have made renewed criticisms of T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris, over remarks he made about migration numbers in Ireland being too high.<\/p>\n
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns accused the Government of playing politics \u201cstraight out of the Farage playbook\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the D\u00e1il, she said the Government is ratcheting up its use of inflammatory language to stoke further fear. <\/p>\n
Pointing to the attack on the accommodation centre in Drogheda Ms Cairns said it was a violent attack \u201con vulnerable people which could easily have led to children being killed\u201d. <\/p>\n
During Leaders\u2019 Questions, Ms Cairns said Mr Harris spoke about migration numbers being too high just days after anti-immigrant rioting at Citywest.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the despicable Ipas attack on Friday night, the Government moved immediately to talking about charging those in direct provision for accommodation,\u201d she said. Along with this, the \u201ccallous proposal to reduce accommodation entitlements for people from Ukraine to just 30 days has also just been signed off\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Cairns said there have been 30 attacks in recent years on Ipas centres or proposed accommodation centres.<\/p>\n
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said \u201cdozens of times in recent years, residents have faced attacks and violence in what are modern-day pogroms\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Bacik said any flaws in the asylum system are the Government\u2019s responsibility and the Government is conflating \u201cimmigration with criminality\u201d. This rhetoric \u201ccan contribute to an environment where violence can develop\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added \u201cregrettably, all three largest parties in this house: Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and Sinn F\u00e9in have recently issued communications that have lent into anti-migrant sentiment\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said it was wrong of the T\u00e1naiste to say Ireland\u2019s migration numbers are too high. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a direct line between the dog whistling of Government leaders and the scapegoating of asylum seekers based on misinformation,\u201d People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said. <\/p>\n
Replying for the Government, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers rejected the claims.<\/p>\n
Mr Chambers said everyone in Government condemned the attack and that many migrants made a huge contribution to Irish society. He added that \u201cwe should be able to assess overall migration policy continuously and evaluate it, to look at European norms\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan \u201cis doing everything in his engagement with colleagues across the European Union to look at the wider incentives and disincentives and the push and the pull factors \u2014 that\u2019s a normal part of migration policy across Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said they need an honest evaluation of that \u201cso we\u2019re able to respond to the overall numbers that are coming into our country\u201d. <\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters earlier on Tuesday, Mr Harris said he \u201cabsolutely\u201d stood over his comments.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe Irish people want to know that their Government is putting in place a system [for immigration] that is fair and firm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are parts of our public services that would fall over were it not for people coming to our country and contributing.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he added: \u201cYou know what is also a good thing? … having a system that has rules that are applied, making sure that there\u2019s a common sense and a social cohesion element to all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\u00a0Forty-five adults and seven children deported from Ireland to GeorgiaOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n The Fine Gael leader said there is \u201ca limit\u201d to what Ireland can do for immigrants.<\/p>\n Mr Harris<\/a> said recent data from the Economic and Social Research Institute<\/a> shows the population is growing \u201cway faster than baseline projections\u201d. This, he said, has an impact on public services and housing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conversation about migration isn\u2019t just about international protection, it\u2019s about our population growth in general,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cRoughly speaking, for every 10,000 people [who] come into our country, around 3,000 more homes are needed. So let\u2019s actually have a rational, calm, informed debate that doesn\u2019t seek to label people, shout them down, box them into certain positions.\u201d<\/p>\n