The latest measures in the Government’s tightening up of Ireland’s immigration system include accommodation charges for working asylum seekers – and new barriers to citizenship for those that don’t pay them – and tougher rules on family reunification.
It is all part of what Minister Jim O’Callaghan has been arguing is the Coalition’s “fair and firm” approach to immigration, which has grown to be one of the most contentious issues in Irish society in recent years.
However, as Jack Horgan-Jones and Pat Leahy report in our lead story today, the new accommodation charges will not be imposed on a cohort of thousands of people living in direct provision.
The charges will not apply to people who have been granted refugee status but remain in State accommodation.
Further measures tighten Government’s ‘fair and firm’ approach to immigration
How many people moved to Ireland last year and how many were asylum seekers?
President Catherine Connolly yet to move into Áras an Uachtaráin or announce key aides
Refugees who remain in State accommodation will not pay new fees
In July, this amounted to some 5,300 people who were housed by the International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas) having received permission to live and work in Ireland.
This means they are no longer entitled to State accommodation, but charities maintain they are unable to secure private accommodation and are left with no option but to remain in situ.
There are more than 30,000 people living in Ipas centres overall.
While Government sources said new legislation could yet be introduced extending the charging regime to these people, Ministers were told on Wednesday that there are significant difficulties in forcing these people to pay a contribution under the scheme as approved.
It is believed that there is a nervousness in Government about charging this cohort as it could be construed as a legal relationship with the State effectively being their landlord.
A Government source said there will now be a renewed focus on continuing to move these people out of State accommodation.
The Government has made repeated efforts to encourage this cohort to move on. It is understood that 4,000 people have left this year but about 5,000 remain.
An Ipas team working in collaboration with charities and the Department of Housing offers them supports.
But it would seem that the difficulties faced by those granted international protection who have a right to live in Ireland but have not moved on to their own accommodation is a symptom of the wider housing crisis.
Emmet Malone has written an explainer on what the new family reunification rules mean for migrant workers.
In his analysis Leahy hones in on comments by O’Callaghan where he said Ireland’s rate of population growth is too high and the Government’s new restrictions on family reunification and citizenship grants are intended to reduce it.
Leahy writes that at Government Buildings on Wednesday, O’Callaghan was at pains to frame Ireland’s problem as one of immediate capacity, not underlying demographics.
Population increase is a good thing, O’Callaghan told reporters. But not at this rate – it’s increasing too quickly for us to cope.
O’Callaghan said the Irish population was growing at a rate of 1.6 per cent a year, which he said was seven times the EU average, and the highest in the European Union.
Leahy writes that the Government moves are about two things: first – the current capacity in the system, which is stretched beyond breaking point, and the consequent pressure on accommodation, exacerbating the housing crisis.
Second, it’s about the tide in public and political opinion against migration, visible all over Europe.
Ireland has had a milder version of this so far, he writes, but it is not immune.
Best Reads
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In Opinion, US ambassador Edward Walsh writes that Ireland is “uniquely placed” to be an “interpreter” and a “bridge” between the Trump administration and the European Union.
Wednesday’s Inside Politics podcast asks could a left alliance transform Irish politics and explores how the Catherine Connolly presidential election campaign showed the potential for co-operation but how higher stakes will bring bigger tests.
Playbook
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee will take parliamentary questions in the Dáil from 8.47am.
Next up is Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon at 10.24am.
Leaders’ Questions is at noon.
Government business from 1.52pm is statements on the conflict in Sudan.
TDs have an opportunity to raise topical issues at 5.24pm.
Independent TD Brian Stanley has put forward proposed legislation on regulating wind turbines and it is due to be debated in the Dáil at 6.24pm.
The Committee on Further and Higher Education will be discussing apprenticeships with teachers and guidance counsellors at 9.30am.
Tusla, the Child and Family agency, will be before the Committee on Children to be quizzed on child protection matters and the use of special emergency accommodation at 9.30am.
Representatives from the Office of Public Works will be at the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee from 10.30am.
Ireland’s European Commissioner, Michael McGrath, is due to appear at the Committee on European Union Affairs to discuss his areas of responsibility – Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection – at 10.30am.
You can find the full Dáil, Seanad and committee schedules here.
