Aontú TD for Mayo, Paul Lawless has called on the government to put the EU migration pact to a vote in the Dáil.
Speaking today, Deputy Lawless said:
“The EU migration pact is set to come into effect at the end of this month. This pact was voted on and passed by the last Dáil in 2024, of which I was not a member, by a tiny margin. It could have huge ramifications for the country, and we in Aontú have always been of the view that it should be put to the people by way of referendum. It is incredible that this pact was voted through the Dáil by a government whose mandate dated from 2020. Indeed by my calculations 40 of the TDs who voted for this pact have either lost their seats or retired from politics since that vote. In the interests of democracy, and given the margin in the last vote was a mere 7 votes, I think the newly elected Dáil should be offered a chance to vote on this issue”.
Deputy Lawless continued: “The pact allows the EU essentially to dictate how many migrants Ireland must take, or how much money Ireland must pay in lieu of taking migrants. In response to a question from Aontú, Simon Harris has confirmed that he doesn’t even know how much this pact could cost Ireland. I think the Dáil, not the EU, should set our migration rules. The pact infringes on our sovereignty. My fear here is that the EU will look at our GDP and employment rate, conclude that we are a wealthy country and that we should take a disproportionate amount of migrants, without ever factoring in the capacity of the state in terms of housing, health and other public services.”
This is not the first time the Irish government has opted into a legally enforceable agreement. According to The Climate Change Advisory Council, Ireland faces potential EU compliance penalties ranging €8 billion to €26 billion if we fail to reach the 2030 emission targets. The EU Nature Restoration Law is another example. We are now legally obliged to restore at least 20% of our land and sea areas by 2030, this is a legally binding obligation with penalties for noncompliance. And according to the committee drafting Ireland’s own Nature Restoration Plan, the funding mechanism does not adequately support the targets. Instead, the bulk of the fund has been redirected toward Dublin MetroLink.”
“The EU needs to stop punishing member states by way of the imposition of fines, they are out of touch with Ireland and our specific housing supply challenges. We need less dictation and punishment in favour of coordination and working together. Member states, particularly ones which are islands, should have sovereignty to make our laws in relation to our borders within our own parliament in Dublin without excessive EU meddling. The new Dáil, and newly elected TDs should be allowed to vote on this pact, before it comes into effect at the end of the month”, concluded Deputy Lawless.
