The Minister for Justice is acting in bad faith by progressing migration proposals which lack justification, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gannon:<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the Cabinet is signing off on new migration proposals which have one overriding aim: to make life more difficult for migrants.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the more performatively punitive measures being proposed is charging international protection applicants up to 40% of their income for accommodation. The government says this is only fair – international protection applicants should contribute from whatever meagre income they have.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a proposal that may cost more to implement than it will raise. The set up costs alone are estimated at \u20ac1.7 million, while the annual running costs are expected to be nearly \u20ac750,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposal isn\u2019t even legally enforceable – those who don\u2019t pay can\u2019t be evicted because the State has a legal obligation to provide accommodation. Compelling tenants to way is impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis measure is likely self-defeating as it will make it harder for people to move out of IPAS accommodation. These are people who are mainly in low paid, precarious jobs, while much of the accommodation they are residing in is substandard and overcrowded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can people ever hope to save for a deposit and get on with their lives when they are being charged to stay in direct provision?<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven this proposal doesn\u2019t make financial, legal or moral sense, why is the government moving ahead with it? The only answer is that the coalition parties want to signal that they\u2019re tough on immigration, want to make migrants\u2019 lives hard, and to deter others from coming here.<\/p>\n
\u201cProposals to make family reunification, which is already tightly constrained, even more difficult are simply cruel \u2013 and could put lives at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are major questions for this government on the approach it is taking to migration. At a time of rising hate and increased racism, we have seen a concerted effort from the government to frame migration in a negative context \u2013 fanning the flames of division.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government should instead deliver on its promise of a communication campaign to address myths and fearmongering about migration, and spend time speaking about the huge benefits of migration and its importance for our economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to migration, many governments around the world are in a race to the bottom and this government seems determined to join them. But, if history has taught us anything, it is that political parties moving to the right on migration simply reward and give credence to those far-right parties who already occupy that space. This government is playing a dangerous game.\u201d<\/p>\n
November 26th, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister for Justice is acting in bad faith by progressing migration proposals which lack justification, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon. Deputy Gannon: \u201cToday, the Cabinet is signing off on new migration proposals which have one overriding aim: to make life more difficult for migrants. \u201cOne of the more performatively punitive measures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,528,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-immigration","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n