The Government has displayed incredible incompetence in recent days in dealing with migration and returns to Britain. The Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, claimed at the justice committee that 80% of those applying for asylum in this State are coming from Britain via the North. At the weekend, the Tánaiste then carelessly jumped in two feet first, pointing to Britain's Rwanda deal and claiming it had led to an increase in the numbers of people crossing the Border, despite him not having any evidence to that effect. His error of judgment was a gift to the Tory Party, which is desperate for a row with Europe, Ireland and anyone else on the issue of migration.

The Tánaiste went on to tell a press conference in London yesterday that the claim of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, about asylum seekers crossing the Border is not based on statistics, evidence or data. The Minister for Justice says one thing. The Tánaiste contradicts her and says another with both it seems making claims without any supporting data. The incompetence is off the charts. At a time when we need calm and an assured response, we get panic. At a time when we need competence and clear communication, we get contradiction. This has been a feature confirming the widespread view that the Government is not on top of issues relating to migration and that nobody competent is in charge. Scrambling around to turn hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation and office blocks into direct provision centres or having tents line the length of Mount Street in Dublin are not the hallmarks of a well-managed system.

Ireland is a welcoming, compassionate country and there is no room for racism here. We know that there are those who seek to exploit this serious issue to sow division and hatred, and that is why clarity is so important. The truth is that the Government has, from the beginning, made a complete mess of the handling of this situation. We need an immigration system that is fair, efficient and enforced, and a system with common sense that safeguards social cohesion and protects human rights. Both can be done effectively in parallel. However, the Government's chaotic approach, as evidenced, is evidence that nobody is in charge and that it does not really have a plan to get to grips with the situation.

Tá cur chuige an Rialtais maidir le hinimirce trína chéile. Tá daoine ag mothú nach bhfuil aon duine i gceannas maidir leis an neamhábaltacht idir an tAire Dlí agus Cirt, an Teachta McEntee, agus an Tánaiste.

The Government says it has an agreement with Britain but the British Government says it does not. Which is it? If the Government does have such an agreement, has the Irish State made use of the agreement and if not, why not? People want a system that is decent and fair. They also expect the rules to be enforced. It seems from recent revelations that this has not been a priority for the Minister, Deputy McEntee, or for the Government. We now have a situation of confusion in Government and of contradiction and chaos between the Minister for Justice and the Tánaiste. Which of them, if either, is speaking correctly? Not satisfied with that, the Government has managed to spread confusion between two governments about an agreement that exists or does not exist. Which is it? Will the Taoiseach please bring clarity to that question?

First, I agree with the Deputy's comments about this being a welcoming country and about there being no room for racism in the country. It is important that we live in a country where the leader of the Government and the leader of the Opposition can come together in our national Parliament and say that. That is important, and I welcome that.

However, let me say this: there is no confusion and there is clarity. The reality of the situation is, as the Deputy knows better than most, that we have a common travel area between the United Kingdom and Ireland. As she knows, again, better than most, I imagine, that is a really important common travel area. As she also knows, when Britain made the decision to leave the European Union, an agreement was put in place, one that was confirmed by the British Government today with regard to an operating agreement for migrants and refugees to be returned in both directions, if somebody was coming here from the UK or vice versa. It is also true to say, and a statement of fact, that in March our High Court in a ruling said that there was not an adequate legislative basis for this. The Minister for Justice has moved very swiftly and with the full support of all members of Government to clarify that and to close what I have described as a legal loophole. I very much welcome that.

I have no intention whatsoever of this country being dragged into politics in Britain. I am very well aware of the politics of Britain. It can have its migration policy and do what it wishes on that, and we have ours. Ours is a rules-based, firm migration system that endeavours to provide assistance to people in humanitarian need but also one that has to make it clear to people that if they do not have a right to be here, they need to be asked to and it needs to be ensured that they leave more quickly. A number of measures have been taken by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to bring that about.

For anybody watching this in Britain or Ireland, this is just one of a number of measures we are taking to make sure we come at this issue from all angles so that we can properly address what is a very serious situation in Ireland and across the European Union. The legislation is one element but so too is the decision that the Minister made to introduce faster processing for ten countries designated as safe countries, and also the decision she made last week to add Nigeria to that list. We know that the highest percentage of people coming here at the moment are from Nigeria and we know that as night follows day, when we introduce faster processing, the number of people coming from that country will fall. We have seen that time and time again in recent weeks. It is also why the Minister has made the decision to free up from desk jobs in immigration the work of 100 gardaí so that they can now work more closely with the PSNI on an important collaboration between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána, and also so they can work on deportations.

I do welcome, in the midst of the politics of Britain, the comments of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland yesterday. He very clearly said that he was, in his word, "comfortable" with the Irish proposal, and he talked about the importance of the two governments working together on protecting the common travel area from any abuse. Next week in Dublin, the common travel area co-ordination group was due to meet anyway. That was already scheduled. That will be an opportunity for the Minister to engage with them. This is a group that brings together officials from our two jurisdictions as well.

Regarding the 80%, or the over 80%, I also want to be clear on this. As the Deputy knows, and I presume she supports, we have an open border. People coming back and forth over the Border is invaluable for peace and prosperity on the island. However, it is also important that we listen to people on the front line. It is important that we listen to the men and women working in the International Protection Office, IPO, who tell the Minister - who then has the good form to tell this House and a committee - that they are now seeing a very significant increase in the number of people who have arrived seeking protection and who have come from the UK. It would have been an irresponsible Government that would not have shared that. We had seen a lot of activity at the airport. We took strong measures at the airport in terms of people arriving without passports, Garda checks and the like, and we always have to be agile and flexible in our response. There is no disagreement in government regarding the fact that we are seeing a very significant increase of people presenting at our IPO who have come here from the UK.

The Taoiseach now claims that there is clarity with the British Government. He might alert us as to when he received that clarification from the British Prime Minister. Has the British Government clarified that it does in fact have a legal obligation to accept returns? It has acknowledged operational arrangements but it has not gone so far as to acknowledge a legal obligation. Can the Taoiseach confirm for me that this is in fact the case?

Will he add some more detail, while he is at it? I am fully aware of the common travel area, as are we all. I am also aware that Brexit happened and was a huge disrupter. Will the Taoiseach please give us more clarity on this?

I asked a question about confusion in the Government. The Tánaiste is contradicting the Minister for Justice, saying that a claim she made is not based on fact, data or statistics. Will the Taoiseach clarify which, if either of the Minister for Justice or the Tánaiste is speaking accurately?

The mishandling of this by the Government and by the Tánaiste has been a gift to the Tories. If the Taoiseach follows politics over there, as no doubt he does, I have no doubt that he is well aware of that fact too.

What I am very well aware of is not allowing this country to become a pawn in any politics in the United Kingdom. I hope that is something that the Deputy and I can agree on because as political leaders in this Parliament, I hope the Deputy will also agree that we have every right to set our own migration policy, we have every right and obligation to make sure that migration policy is rules-based, efficient and effective, and we also have every right when countries enter agreements that those agreements are honoured. This is a country that honours our agreements. I have said clearly that the British Government has acknowledged that there are operational arrangements in place. I welcome that fact.

But not legal obligations.

I am very clear that those operational agreements are in place under the common travel area and I am very clear that we are going to legislate so that we will have absolute clarity so it can work. I am also really clear that it is only one of a number of things that we need to do. The more significant thing that has been done in recent weeks is not the legislation today but the faster processing time because we know that is what helps make a very positive impact on reducing the numbers of people coming to our country.

The 80% figure is based on what the Minister for Justice was told. All members of the Government accept and understand that. The point the Tánaiste was making was not in contradiction. He was making the point that there is not a definitive count taken of the people who go over the Border. The Deputy knows that and I know that. The figure is based on the information we see in the International Protection Office and we would do well to listen to the people on the front line processing those applications.

That is not an answer.