Mayo councillor voices concern over EU migration pact decision by TDs
A newly-elected member of Mayo County Counciul has strongly condemned the passage of the EU migration and Asylum Pact in the Dáil.
Aontú Councillor Paul Lawless stated: “In passing the EU migration pact, the government has essentially transferred control over immigration into Ireland to Brussels.
"We know from history during the banking crisis, the EU will not make decisions in Ireland's interest.
"Decision making in relation to migration and our borders has now been outsourced to the EU.”
“The Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (RAMM) will see the EU determine the numbers of immigrants that Ireland must accept or the amount of money we must pay in lieu of not accepting people into the country.
"GDP and population will be used to determine the numbers of asylum seekers allocated to Ireland.
"Notwithstanding the fact that GDP in the Irish context is hugely inflated due to foreign direct investment (FDI).
"Nevertheless, numbers will have to be accepted or fines will have to be paid irrespective of our economic circumstances or service pressures such as housing, health, education or transport. In the event of an economic downturn our ability to navigate and mitigate financial hardships will be severely hampered.”
“While the Minister for Justice has cited the pact will result in ‘faster processing of applications, stronger border security and faster returns’ the truth is, there is nothing stopping the Irish government doing this immediately without eroding our sovereignty.
"The Minister for Justice could implement faster processing times, stronger border security and quicker returns through resourcing the systems property as we in Aontú have consistently called for.
“This pact will essentially mean more of our taxes will be spent on IPAS centres or fines if we can not meet EU targets.
"Moves like this solidify the government party's stance on opening IPAS centres across Ireland without the consent of local communities, as being threatened in Claremorris, Knock, Ballinrobe and elsewhere.
“I am particularly disappointed that all the Mayo government TDs including Alan Dillion, Michael Ring and Dara Calleary all voted for the pact. They chose to stand with the party whip over their constituents.
“The consequences of the decision to transfer control over our borders to Brussels will have deep consequences that will be bore out by the Irish taxpayers.
"History will view this as the biggest transfer of Irish sovereignty in the history of the state without the people's consent.
"The decision must be critically reconsidered to ensure that our migration policies remain within our control and responsive to our unique national needs”, he added.