IN ITS manifesto and party statements, Fine Gael is blurry on immigration issues. However, a deep conservatism can be read between the lines – and a preoccupation with asylum issues is plain to see.
Denis Naughten, Fine Gael’s spokesman on immigration and integration of recent years, has consistently framed his portfolio within an ‘us and them’ context and overlooked issues pertaining to integration and economic migrants. There’s little in the party literature to suggest a new incarnation in Government.
Last week, Metro Éireann asked Fine Gael what it would do to tackle the backlog of 22,000 citizenship applications, particularly given its proposed downsizing of the civil service. A non-specific res-ponse comprised of extracts from its manifesto was received. The party presently has “no plans to extend voting rights to non-Irish residents”, said a spokesperson.
Fine Gael’s manifesto says it will initiate “comprehensive reforms dealing with immigration, residency and asylum issues which will include provision of a statutory appeals system to ensure we comply with best international standards and bring to an end the enormous waste of public funds resulting from delays in processing applications and expensive court actions taken against the state”.
It promises to extend court sittings “to reduce the length of the asylum list and clear the backlog of those who need to be accommodated pending their hearing”.
Integration issues, the citizenship backlog and racism are not mentioned.
International students are favoured by the party, but the financial burden they carry is unlikely to lighten. Indeed, Fine Gael wants to double their numbers in a move clearly contextualised in its manifesto as a revenue bolstering exercise.
Labour, too, is low on detail in its manifesto but it does mention integration, citing its intention to initiate policies which promote “the participation of immigrants in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their communities”.
The party also promises long-awaited reform of immigration legislation, vowing to enact “comprehensive and transparent legislation on immigration within 12 months, setting out the rights and obligations involved. The administrative process will be streamlined and speeded up and, an independent appeals mechanism for the review of immigration-related decisions will also be introduced.”
Whether Labour will have the clout to do so – and what shape such reform might take – remains to be seen.
