John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. McCarthy and his colleagues. I want to focus on the handling of what seems to be a shambolic approach to the whole immigration system and the provision of accommodation. When I say a shambolic approach, that is certainly what it is from Government level right the way down. What is needed is a fair, efficient and enforced immigration system with proper communication with communities. None of those things are happening on the ground with public representatives or communities. The whole process is failing communities and those who come to these shores seeking international protection.

I will start with the first area, which is community engagement. Certainly, the approach that has been taken is shambolic. I will give an example in my local constituency of Wicklow, in the area of Newtownmountkennedy. In early March, bulldozers and JCBs moved onto a site owned by the HSE - there are question marks around the ownership of the site - and started to remove topsoil, put in hard core and prepare the ground for something. Despite repeated requests to the Department, the community engagement team told us that nothing was happening, that the site was under review and an assessment was being carried out. That is the line I was fed and was feeding out to the community. That went on for a couple of weeks before I eventually raised it in the Dáil with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on a Thursday evening. He stood over the position that nothing was happening with that particular site and that a process of assessment was being carried out. The following day, a communication came out from the Department to say that the site would be used for accommodation for internationally displaced persons. That was a complete failure of engagement with the community and it actually got the backs of the community up. The community had campaigned for that premises to be turned into a community space and we were told umpteen times that it was not suitable and would not be handed over to the community, but then all of this happened. From the get-go, the whole approach was wrong. What does "communication" mean to the Department?

What does that mean to the Government? Will Mr. McCarthy respond to that question?