Minister for justice, Helen McEntee has described a Sinn Féin proposal that Ireland should “go it alone” with its asylum system as “crazy”.
Speaking on both Newstalk Breakfast and RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Ms McEntee said that the new European Parliament approved policy was “an absolute game changer” under which the International Protection Act 2015 will be repealed, and new, legally binding time frames for making decisions on international protection applications and appeals will be introduced.
“Sinn Féin essentially wants us to go it alone, which is absolutely crazy. I have to say that this is a global challenge.
"This is a global problem. We're not the only country where we've seen an increase in people seeking protection and coming to our shores.
"The idea that we would say ‘we don't need any support, we don't need any help, we're not going to align with our European counterparts’ it's absolutely ludicrous.”
Ms McEntee said there was nothing in the new EU migration package that did not benefit Ireland. “I genuinely believe this is a game changer. And I say that because firstly, it will mean that in law we will have to process applications much more quickly.
“We know the quicker that we process people's applications, people who genuinely need our help, they can move on with their lives.
"We can support them to integrate. People who shouldn't be here, who don't have a right to be here, it is much easier to remove them.”
The Minister pointed out that as an island it was known that over 50 per cent of the people who come to Ireland seeking asylum come from another European country.
“If we do not opt into this pact, the idea that we could tell other countries to take back those who already have protection in their countries, again, is absolutely ludicrous.
"We wouldn't benefit from the financial assistance which we will benefit from when we join the pact, but also we're going to have a greater ability to understand who is coming into our country.
"So there will be enhanced checks and there will be enhanced systems so that when people do arrive, we will understand who they are, where they come from, that will help us understand exactly who's here.
“But also if there are any risks, we would be able to deal with that as well. We have actually helped to make this pact, to get it to where it is here and generally there’s nothing that doesn't benefit Ireland. So why would we go to try and deal with this on our own? It’s absolutely crazy."
The new system will ensure that people who genuinely need help will get it and if there is the same system throughout Europe it will be more effective, she said.
The overall objective was ensuring that the system was fair, but there also needed to be rules that had to be enforced.
With regard to Sinn Féin’s opposition to the pact, Ms McEntee said that Sinn Féin had opposed “every single good thing that has come out of Europe.”
“They have never supported a single measure in Europe that has been beneficial for this country.
"And we as a country have benefited greatly from so much free movement, from people's ability to live, to work, to study. Our economy has flourished because of Europe.
"They have voted against every single measure that has allowed for those benefits. And this is no different here. We don't know what they're doing. They have no plan.”
The pact was not something that had been forced on Ireland, she said. “We've actually been working on this for years because it has taken time. We've been working on it.
"We see how it benefits us. It will mean we have a more efficient system, a more effective system. We will have support from Europe and we will be able to return people who shouldn't be here. But it also means that people who genuinely want our support, they will get it in a much quicker way and a more efficient way.”
