Of course, we know what would have happened had she been the Taoiseach because she had made the decision in advance of the visit that the Taoiseach should not go there.

Had the Labour Party been in government, there would have been no engagement in respect of the United States of America.

It was a very important message that the Taoiseach delivered. It is an extremely difficult time in terms of the relationship between the United States and Europe. I thought it was a real advantage for the Taoiseach to be there yesterday, as the leader of a European country that is not a member of NATO. I think he did Ireland and Europe proud in terms of setting out the values of Europe and, indeed, in setting back some of the rhetoric of President Trump, which as everyone can appreciate can be difficult at times. I…

Each year, my Department issues tens of thousands of visas on foot of work permits granted by the Department of enterprise. We are a very open economy. We welcome in migrant workers. In fact, if the Deputy looks at the Irish workforce, we have a significant number of workers who come from overseas. We have had a very positive experience with migrants who have come to Ireland to work. We have done a really good job in integrating them, notwithstanding the fact that there are people out there who want to politicise i…

I thank Senator McDowell for his question. I will state at the outset that I recognise the Committee Stage amendments before the Seanad represent a considerable body of work. The Senator mentioned the fact that the Bill was guillotined in Dáil Éireann. That is correct, but there was extensive debate nonetheless on Second Stage. I think we debated for three days on Second Stage. There was also Committee Stage, which was truncated, and Report Stage. It is true that not just Ireland but all the other countries in the …

I thank Deputy Cairns for her question. Obviously, it evokes a very painful and disturbing part of our history. In fairness to this Government and indeed previous Governments, there has been a process of trying to ensure that women who are survivors of mother and baby homes and, indeed, children who were born there are provided with recompense and acknowledgement by the State over the past ten-to-15 years or so. Nothing is ever enough for the pain that people went through, particularly the pain of mothers having ch…

We want to be honest with people. We do not want to mislead the 829 families into believing that, by purchasing the site, we will be able to excavate and identify burial grounds. We need to be honest with people in this regard. Just so the House is aware, on foot of the Government’s action plan for survivors and former residents of mother and baby homes, the former Minister for housing, Deputy O’Brien, wrote to local authorities requesting that development plan processes consider incorporating appropriate measures …

I thank the Deputy for his question. I am surprised he started with an invocation of Joseph Kent, who is one of the leaders of the MAGA movement in the United States of America.

It is just curious that the Deputy should happen to rely upon him and quote what he said.

I repeat what I said to Deputy Bacik, which is that what the Taoiseach did yesterday in the White House was extremely important from Ireland and Europe's point of view. We are, as the Deputy will know, at a particularly important time in the geopolitical relationship between the United States and Europe. A very significant break has taken place in that relationship, which has existed for ever 100 years. The focus of that the break is in NATO. As I said earlier, there was a real benefit that the Taoiseach was out th…

-----and that is very clear. He would not have gone. I know Deputy Bacik would not have gone-----

In fairness, Deputies McDonald and Cairns would have gone, so I wish them well when they are in government together deciding whether they will go to the United States next year or whenever they are in government.

Deputy Boyd Barrett would not have gone. There is a real benefit in the Taoiseach going there and being able to speak out frankly, more so than any other international leaders who have been there recently have done. The Taoiseach was able to speak out in respect of Keir Starmer-----

I thank Senator McDowell for his contribution. There are two types of procedure here. I know Senator McDowell is interested in the asylum border procedure but in order to give a full answer to this, I have to make Senators aware of what is provided in section 115, which concerns accelerated examination procedure. There is an accelerated examination procedure and there is an asylum border procedure. Both procedures have to be done on an expedited basis. If Senators look at section 115, they will see it sets out a se…

-----in respect of immigration and in respect of Ireland's view that we should resolve disputes through pacific methods. We cannot emphasise that enough. However, the reality is that in politics, as I am sure the Deputy is aware, self-awareness is an important characteristic. It applies to all of us individually. It also applies to us as a country. Ireland is a small, non-military country. What we say is effective, in terms of the diplomacy we have and standing up to people who are our friends and telling them that…

Ireland has a strong voice. The Taoiseach emphasises that. The Deputy just saw what was stated in front of the cameras yesterday. There is ongoing engagement between ambassadors and diplomats in the United States. Nobody wants to see these disputes resolved through force. I agree with Deputy Carthy when he said that no-one ever achieved anything from bombing a country. He was right in that respect, notwithstanding the irony of it. Similarly, we need to emphasise to the United States that there is no long-term solut…

The Deputy mentioned the Mayor of New York, Mamdani. Of course, he did go to the White House. He is not refusing to meet President Trump as a result of what has happened in Iran. The Deputy's position is not consistent when it comes to engagement. The Irish Government believes there should be engagement with people when it comes to seeking to resolve disputes. The Deputy's view is to stay away from it. We believe, when you look at the history of Ireland and what we have achieved, that we are much better off engagin…

-----stands to us, and the fact that we are not a member of NATO stands to us. I again commend the Taoiseach for the great performance he put up yesterday.

I also welcome my constituents to Seanad Éireann.

It is good timing by my constituents as well. This was debated on Second Stage in this House and elsewhere. When whoever comes to write the history of the 21st century, migration and immigration is going to be a huge part of it. We are really just seeing that narrative play out. It is an extremely difficult issue for states to deal with, particularly states such as our own which had no real history of immigration prior to the beginning of the 21st century. Migration in Ireland was always in the context of people le…