The Government’s handling of integration in Ireland is ‘seriously flawed’, Fine Gael’s leader has said.
Speaking to Metro Éireann after a fundraising lunch for the party’s local election candidates in Fingal County Council last week, Enda Kenny called on the Government to get real about the integration of immigrants here.
“Either you are going to have an integration policy or you’re not,” he said. “Government has decided that they don’t want an integration policy. I think this is a serious flaw.”
He continued: “You have a Minister for Integration but you have no integration policy. You had a situation where €9m was allocated last year [to the Office of the Minister for Integration] but it was not all spent; €3m was returned to the department [by former Minister for Integration Conor Lenihan].”
Kenny said he also has no faith in the new Minister for Integration, John Curran. “The current minister has said he is going to concentrate on the drugs issue. I think this is a serious flaw in Government policy. People who have come to this country from other countries are very welcome for the contribution that they make.”
He added: “What we need is a system that is fair for both the immigrant and fair for the Irish and that means you have to have regulations that are set down, that are clear and understandable. And where they are adhered to, nobody has a problem. Where they are not ad-hered to, the law must apply.”
Kenny said his party takes the integration of immigrants very seriously, and has since appointed a spokesperson on integration and immigration on the front bench.
When asked for comment, the Office of the Minister for Integration stated that the Government’s policy is in line with the mainstreaming approach set out in its 'Migration Nation' statement in May last year.
“The financial situation is a matter of serious concern [and] savings had to be made, including for example not providing funding to political parties,” said a spokesperson, who added that “funding was for the first time provided to sporting bodies and local authorities.”
