EU migration pact and land ownership
Deputy McNamara linked the debate-free migration pact process to his concern about concentrated land ownership in south Tipperary, then returned to the pact and warned against an all-or-nothing committee outcome. Deputy Wynne also pressed for a debate on the pact.
Will all of south Tipperary have to be owned by one man and trust funds linked to him before the matter is debated in this House and measures are taken to prevent that concentration of land ownership because of the economic and social consequences of that?
Just because one is a large donor to the parties in government, it should not preclude one from examination by this House.
The second point I wish to make, regarding the EU migration pact-----
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Well, I have heard others raising two.
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The migration pact is not one Bill, but it is several. I believe it would be beneficial to this State to opt into some of them, but some of them would be very detrimental. My concern is that this will come back from the justice committee with a motion that we apply and endorse either all measures or none of them. That would be profoundly undemocratic, and I believe it would be detrimental to the interests of this State.
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I also want to call for a debate on the European migration pact. It is one of the most contentious issues of today. I fear that if the Government does not allow for a debate to happen in this House, it will unfortunately then leave it to the public to debate it themselves outside this House. That would not be beneficial or appropriate either, so I would like to call for a debate on that.