Aontú introduce Bill to withdraw Ireland from EU Migration Pact. Leader Peadar Tóibín says: “We want to challenge and test the full limit of what this country has a right to do.”
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín and Aontú TD Paul Lawless introduced the party’s Bill to withdraw Ireland from the EU Migration Pact today.(WEDS).
Deputy Tóibín said: “The EU Migration Pact hands over Irish sovereignty on this key issue, to the EU.
“The EU will in future determine the numbers of people Ireland must accept as part of the asylum process and this allows Brussels to determine the money we must pay in lieu of accepting asylum applicants.
“Already the government is expecting to pay €9m in fines next year as a result of this pact.
“There are differences of legal opinion on what is possible regarding Ireland’s opt-in to the Migration Pact. We want to challenge and test the full limit of what this country has a right to do. We want to see if it is possible to withdraw from the opt-in.
“We know countries such as Poland have received exemptions. We have submitted this Bill for the purpose of testing and challenging the law and to build pressure on the government for the introduction of this damaging act.
“Poland received an exemption from the pact because they have given protection to one million Ukrainian people. Ireland has currently 1.2 million immigrants in the country.
“This is 23% of the population. Ireland is an outlier in these terms. No other European countries have figures next or near ours.
“Many of these people are living integrated and productive lives in Ireland. But it is also putting significant pressure on the housing crisis.
“The price and accessibility of a product is based on supply and demand. Supply of housing in this country has been damaged by government mismanagement.
“A total of 42% of people on the Dublin housing waiting list are foreign born and this makes it harder for locals and newly arrived people to get a house.”
Mayo TD Paul Lawless added: “It was an honour to introduce a bill before the house – to remove Ireland from the EU migration pact and to restore Irish sovereignty over its borders.
“The government’s decision to opt into the EU migration pact was reckless. When the EU Migration Pact was voted on in the Dáil it passed by a very slim majority of just seven votes.”
More than 75,000 people have now signed Aontú’s petition opposing the Migration Pact, demonstrating the level of public interest in the issue. Deputy Tóibín explained: “The EU migration pact is bad for Ireland. It outsources decisions on cost and numbers of people coming here to the EU and locks Ireland into those decisions. It does nothing about the 80% of people coming here from Britain through the north of Ireland.”
