Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am glad to open this important debate on the issue of how we afford protection for people who come to our country. Providing services and accommodation is hugely challenging and complex, and the circumstances have changed dramatically in the past three years. It is appropriate that we are giving time to discuss, debate and understand this issue.

Going right back, this country has always been open to the world and to people coming here. Over the generations we have seen people arrive in Ireland and make it their home. They become "more Irish than the Irish themselves" is the expression we remember from schooldays. It is true. Our culture, nation and way of being allow for inclusion and for people to come to become part of this Republic and, potentially, citizens. We certainly afford them refuge and provide a céad míle fáilte. Those words have never been truer than today because in the past three years we have been looking after housing and helping to provide refuge for some 100,000 people. There are 100,000 Ukrainians, of whom 75,000 are in State accommodation of one form or other. Approximately 26,000 people are in international protection systems. We have had to provide accommodation for 100,000 people, and that is beyond compare in the scale of challenge. I commend the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, who will speak shortly, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and various elements of the Irish State. They have sought for us to be able to do that, as difficult as it has been.

As a small country, we have consistently placed great importance on international and multilateral agreement and international law. As a small country, which, in a sense, was under colonial rule in the past, that adherence to international law is fundamental to us. It is important. That is what we are doing in providing refuge. We are a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. We have to meet those international obligations. We cannot turn our back on them.

It is a challenge. We have gone from having in international protection some 8,300 beds as recently as January 2022, only two years ago, to 26,000 today. That is an incredible change. We were seeing typically 3,500 people coming to seek refuge here. That has increased to more than 13,000 in the past two years; a dramatic change.

We should be careful not to feel that we are the only country which has to bear this real challenge. Looking at the figures for the percentage of asylum seekers in each different jurisdiction in the European Union, Ireland sits pretty much on the European average. We are very close to the European average in the number of asylum applications per capita. I understand Ireland's percentage of all the applications that were made within the European Union last year was 1%, which is our percentage of the population. We are not alone in managing this huge crisis in how we offer and provide protection for people coming to our country.

We have to manage it and we have a real challenge because we have a fast-growing country. We have migration coming from a variety of sources. It is not just people coming from Ukraine or coming through the international protection system. We also have a very significant number of people returning home and people coming from the European Union who are entitled to come, live and work here. People come from other jurisdictions where we are providing work permits for them to come. That actually makes up the biggest number of the people coming to live and work in our country. They bring real benefits to our country, as do many of the people who come seeking protection.

We need to understand and we need to be able to explain to people, in order that they are not lost in fear that this is something we cannot manage or is a burden that we should pass or that we should try to put up the barriers, declaring that Ireland is full and saying that we cannot do this. We can and we will. We have to do it in a way that works for everyone, including those coming. That also recognises that there are limits in terms of the ability to cope at this time, when we are absolutely stretched. Providing the additional accommodation is becoming more challenging. The ability to get private accommodation has been very much constrained in the last year. For those reasons, we have sought to try to manage the flow coming in. We have changed the rules, for example, with people coming from Ukraine. We absolutely must provide safe refuge but the ability to house people in the same way we did two years ago has changed. That is not willingly or out of desire to change the rules but we have had to change the rules to provide that guarantee of 90 days' support and accommodation. We needed to recognise the truth that we cannot guarantee all the beds we might need were the flow to continue and that is why those rules were changed. It was not out of any other desire than to make sure we do not give false promise.

Likewise with international protection, very reluctantly we have had to change the rules whereby in effect we are not able to provide guaranteed accommodation particularly for single males coming into the country at this moment because we simply do not have the beds. It is not easy to develop and put those in place, as we all know from the instances that have got such attention and generated such tension in recent months. That is a challenge and that is why we have not been able to provide accommodation for 737 single men. We have set in place a system because this is about managing and not trying do harm to any one individual. We have introduced a triage system. For a variety of reasons, health or otherwise, we have provided accommodation for some 125 of those 737 single men because there was an actual immediate need for that to happen. It is trying to be flexible and practical. It is trying to recognise that we are limited in what we can do at this time.

There are other changes. First, there has been a huge increase in investment in the office within the Department of Justice processing applications in order that we act fast. It is very important in assessing an application that for both the applicant and for our ability to manage we do not take so long and that we accelerate the process, which is what is happening. I understand the number of people working in that Department on assessing applications has doubled in the last two to three years.

We also had yesterday's announcement by the Minister on the definition of safe countries and on recognising that someone who has got status in another European country is in different circumstances from someone coming here directly from a war-torn region. We need to manage the flow coming to our country in a way that makes sure we can deliver the services and what we are required to do under international law, under the convention for refugees, under the European law and under the basic tenets of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We will need to continue to evolve and within the coming weeks, the Government will look at how we manage on a more medium-term and long-term basis, recognising we will have to move towards less reliance on what might be called emergency accommodation. We need to scale up the likes of the Citywest facility we have and other such facilities in order that we have locations where we are not just looking on an emergency basis and ongoing rotating basis to try to provide accommodation for new arrivals.

We have work to do to explain to our people the challenges we have but also the obligations we have, what the nature of the systems are, and that there is a rational proper process based on human rights and respect, obviously, for local communities. I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy O'Brien, will talk about the work he is doing on community engagement. We will be going to Government in the coming weeks to make sure we continue to evolve and develop our protection system in order that it works for local communities and for people who are coming here seeking protection and that we can manage.

It is a significant challenge. We are spending €1.5 billion a year in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth alone. There is a huge role in the Department of Education, and in my Department, the Department of Transport, providing a transport system for the 100,000 people we have had to provide accommodation for. However, we can and will do this. We will be stronger as a country for living up to the tradition we have of being a welcoming country that respects, stands up for and delivers on our national, European and international legal obligations.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has continued to work as part of the whole-of-government response with a focus on providing access to emergency temporary accommodation to those fleeing conflict who request it. The Department of the Taoiseach co-ordinates the whole-of-government response to Ukraine and other Departments and agencies are also involved in this response, and the integration of the beneficiaries of temporary protection and international protection applicants.

I am in the position where I can see this directly in the three Departments in which I serve. The cross-government response has been supported by the community response forum in a local authority-led programme providing assistance to those seeking protection. The forum includes representatives from NGOs, volunteers, the HSE and others at community level across the country who are contributing to the welcoming and integration of Ukrainians and international protection applicants. I want to pay particular tribute to the role that local development companies have been playing in assisting communities to understand what is happening with new arrivals and to help communities welcome new arrivals, especially in difficult circumstances. They have been key partners to our community engagement team.

Ireland is currently accommodating more than 101,000 people between those fleeing Ukraine and international protection applicants. This includes almost 75,000 Ukrainian people who have sought accommodation from the State and over 26,000 IP applicants currently in IPAS accommodation. Much of this accommodation is made up of unused rooms in family homes, previously unused buildings or refurbished buildings that have not been in use for some time. This is a good thing and brings life, activity, families and workers to a place that often did not have any.

Ireland and many other European countries are experiencing a significant increase in the number of people seeking international protection. Over the period from 2017 to 2019, an average of 3,500 people applied for international protection each year. In 2022, more than 13,600 people sought international protection with a similar number last year.

The other key part of the context is the fact that we across Europe are also dealing with the consequences of the largest displacement of people in Europe since the Second World War, which has brought an additional 100,000 people to our shores from Ukraine. Departmental officials are working to bring more bed spaces into use for those seeking protection.

For context, at the end of January 2022 IPAS had 8,300 bed spaces in use; it now has approximately 26,000 beds in use. This is an achievement in itself. Since January 2022 my Department has brought over 200 properties into use to accommodate those who arrive in Ireland seeking international protection. This has required incredible work and resources. With all new properties offered to the Department for those seeking refuge, the provider is required to provide detailed information, including a certificate of compliance by a competent expert in relation to adherence to relevant regulations and suitability of use. The Department carefully appraises each property before contracts are issued. Properties are always subject to pre-occupancy inspections.

Over the past two years, communities across Ireland have demonstrated great solidarity and welcome for those who come here seeking refuge. This is demonstrated not only in the response to Ukrainian arrivals but also in the fact we have successfully opened 200 new properties across the country for international protection applicants. The Government is aware of public interest and questions regarding the arrival of those seeking international protection and has set up a community engagement team to engage directly with elected representatives, relevant local authorities, local development companies and other entities and individuals, where relevant and appropriate. The purpose of the team is to improve the flow of information regarding arrivals into areas and help equip local communities with pertinent information to help with the welcome and integration process. Given the scale and urgency of the operation to source accommodation for new arrivals, manage and process them appropriately, and transfer and settle them into their homes and communities, there has been a requirement to act at pace, with developments often happening at short notice. Between September and December 2023, the engagement team issued 39 briefings to stakeholders; within this, it has actively engaged on 24 projects, which involved meetings with public representatives, community groups and residents. The team is also engaged with other stakeholders outside of the immediate openings of centres to build relationships and networks with key groups. This includes meeting with community response forums, local development companies and other NGOs. The effectiveness of the community engagement team partly depends on the co-operation and support of elected representatives at local and national level. I thank all public representatives of all parties and none who have assisted in getting factual information to communities and in challenging false information and assumptions. This will be an ongoing battle and we will continue to need their co-operation.

As Minister of State with responsibility for community development, I want communities to grow cohesively. My Department of Rural and Community Development has been especially cognisant of the needs of communities that have accommodated significant numbers seeking protection in the past two years. This is why over the past two budgets, the SICAP programme, which funds community workers, has received an additional €10 million each year. These allocations are specifically proportionate to the number of new people seeking protection in that area. We have also provided additional allocations to volunteer centres to support the amazing work they continue to do and the €50 million community recognition fund has been allocated to local authorities based on the number of new arrivals they have accommodated.

Community integration work is also supported by my Department of children and integration via the community integration fund, the new international protection integration fund and the larger funds I will announce later this year, namely, the national integration fund and the asylum migration integration fund. My Department of Social Protection since last year has seen Ukrainians join our community employment and Tús schemes in increasing numbers, with approximately 400 Ukrainian participants between both schemes at the moment. There is significant support to assist and integrate people and to assist communities with the integration process. My Department of Rural and Community Development is looking at additional ways to augment this.

I make a request of people who might not be happy about a new property opening in their locality for those seeking protection. If you decide to publicly express dissatisfaction about the opening of such accommodation in your locality, do it in a way that does not intimidate vulnerable people, make people feel unwelcome or attract people with criminal intent who are actively looking to intimidate and threaten. There is a way to express an opinion without damaging your own community. In my view, it is never outside the home or potential home of vulnerable people.

It is important to remember we have a significant number of people seeking protection that we have not been able to accommodate. The Department is not able to provide accommodation for all single male international protection applicants currently, but priority is being given to those in this group with identified vulnerabilities. A temporary increase has been applied to the expense allowance for applicants not in receipt of an offer of accommodation. In addition to these payments, a system of triage of adult males is being implemented to ensure the most vulnerable are prioritised for the provision of accommodation. Drop-in day services are provided to all non-accommodated persons who wish to avail of them. In such centres, IP applicants can access facilities including hot showers, meals and laundry services seven days per week. Currently, this Department has agreements with three charities to provide these services in Dublin. The Department is also in regular contact with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive, the Dublin Simon Community, Streetlink homeless support outreach service and others on this issue, particularly with regard to identifying especially vulnerable people. These organisations are provided with the Department’s duty phone number, which is monitored 24-7 and which they can use to identity said individuals, and prioritisation for accommodation is given to the most vulnerable. The welfare of these men is foremost in my mind and I am continuing, as is the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, to pursue all possibilities to find shelter for these vulnerable men. I ask everyone to consider their welfare as we move forward and try to find shelter for them.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Is there any copy of the speeches?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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We are working on it.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am afraid my contribution was without a text.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Okay. I call the Minister, Deputy Harris.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the fact the Dáil has allocated time to discussing an issue of major policy importance economically and socially: migration. In recent weeks and months, this issue has dominated much public discourse in this House and probably in houses and communities across the country. Unfortunately, a significant amount of that conversation has been grounded in misinformation, disinformation and, often, worse than that. We have seen a coarseness develop and at times a cruelty has entered the discussions. We have seen a discourse that has allowed broad brushstrokes be used to label human beings who come to our country seeking protection and help. We have forgotten the humanity sometimes in the discussion and have preferred to use labels. That needs to stop because none of it helps, much of it hurts and all of it seeks to divide.

I strongly believe communities have every right to ask questions and seek information, and to do that without being portrayed as extreme. If change is coming to a town or village, as I see in my own constituency when a new housing estate is being built, people want to know what is going on and what it means. That is okay and should not be portrayed as extremism. People should not be labelled for asking those questions.

By the Dáil, the people’s House, having this debate, it marks an opportunity for us to reset the discussion and start the open and frank conversation with people on the realities this country, Continent and world face. This is a relatively new reality for Ireland and Irish people. We were a country of emigrants. Our country has been shaped by that. For decades, people left these shores in search of a better life. For decades, people in this House advocated for the rights of those who had gone abroad. We have a very distinct history. Everybody in this Houses knows people or has family members who have left Ireland for the chance of a well-paid job and a better future or life. We all remember all too well the GAA clubs that could not field a team and the rural schools that closed their doors because they could not get the student numbers. This knowledge and pain of the tapestry of emigration has woven its way through our country’s history.

That knowledge and that history we have must shape our perspective and our compassion as we together write our next chapter because the Ireland of today is remarkably different. People now come to this country and they come for many reasons; many come not just because they can but because they have to. The Government must and will help these people, but we need to match that compassion with compassion and support for communities across the country because changing a town or village’s population is not without consequence and can pose a real challenge and opportunity. That has to be acknowledged and addressed by the Government and supported with resources, as the Minister of State, Deputy O’Brien, is doing.

We want to keep on doing that and we want to do it better. We need now to develop a long-term migration policy that is joined up across all the facets of the Government and the State. That has to be the aim. We need to develop a new policy that accurately reflects the huge benefits of migration and the benefits of people who come to this country, the skills they possess and the talent they bring. As Minister with responsibility for further and higher education, I can very much attest to that. Talent is unleashed when met with opportunity.

Over the course of 2023, 30,000 Ukrainian people engaged in further education and training in Ireland. In addition to that, 560 are in higher education as we speak, 750 did post-leaving certificate courses and 1,200 undertook Safe Pass courses to work on construction sites and build houses in this country to help us. Our agency, SOLAS, is embedded in communities right across the country with the education and training boards, ETBs, teaching people the English language, which is so key to integration. We are funding English language provision for people to work in our health services.

On a purely economic level, our country needs inward migration and we cannot take that for granted any more. We need to make the case for that. Politicians who are of the centre and who believe in being outward looking and in multilateralism most not now be silent and must make the case for the benefits of migration.

I am a Minister for skills. We have skills shortages right across our economy. We need people to come to this country to fill those jobs. Our education system and businesses value migration and multilateralism. It supports freedom of movement and exchange of talent. International education is worth €2.38 billion to the Irish economy. Let us not do what some other countries have done in terms of snubbing that and the opportunities and advantages it has. This is a conversation that has to be grounded in facts. We must use any Government strategy and, I hope, any Oireachtas strategy to combat false narratives and information to defend and explain what we are doing and why we are doing it.

However, we cannot allow that excuse about lack of communication to in any way mainstream far-right language. Ireland is not full. Ireland is not only for the Irish. What is this "unvetted male" situation? When I moved into my home, I was an unvetted male. What do people mean by this? It is a loaded term. We should stop using it. Ireland is a country that relies on migrant workers to staff our health service. It requires them to build our homes and uses them to work in our cafes, pubs and restaurants. It is vital that we equip communities with the knowledge and resources they need to manage the changes that communities are facing. We can never allow our conversations develop into an us versus them scenario, and any political party that tries to prey on that narrative should be called out. So many countries have got integration wrong. Ireland must and will get it right. That does mean we need this new long-term migration strategy. It means we need to reduce our reliance, as the Ministers, Deputies O'Gorman and Darragh O'Brien, want to do, on private providers when it comes to accommodation. It means we need to better communicate and better support our communities but it also means we should never lose sight of the benefit of migration and the fact that we have a fair and firm system.

We welcome people here. We support people and want them to come here. If people come here and do not have a right to do so, however, they, too, will face a system that is rules based and firm and they will face the consequences - if they do not have a right to be here- in being asked to leave and do so much more swiftly. We need to stand united in the face of a small number of people who try to hijack the tricolour and undermine democracy. Instead of pandering to them, we need to support communities. We need to support an honest, factual debate, to resource communities and to champion the value of migration. Just like so many Irish people abroad helped to build and shape countries, those coming to this country today will help make a positive Ireland for all.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Is there a copy of the Minister's speech?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have some of it.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat. It is usually the practice to give a copy of the speeches.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Timber is getting scarce.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I will leave it with the Minister.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Before I begin, I want to draw attention to the absence of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, who has the responsibility for the Government's response to the co-ordination of immigration. His absence from the debate this afternoon sums up the Government's approach and handling of this entire situation. This debate is-----

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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To be fair, he is in a committee and will close the debate.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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In fairness, the Minister and Minister of State are the ones who set the time for this debate, which is necessitated by a crisis brought about by the Government's complete mismanagement of the entire issue. The erosion of State services over many decades has pushed communities right to breaking point. It is a situation compounded by the failure of the Government to engage directly with communities over new arrivals; communities that are not equipped to deal with the added numbers within them. Instead, the communities are getting contradictory information and news from the Government and local government about the reality that is happening on the ground, with the promises of additional resources and services failing time and time again to materialise. New figures show that some 950 refugees are sleeping rough on our streets, while communities across the State are at breaking point. This is simply down to the failure of Government to develop a coherent plan.

In the early days of the Russian invasion, I was one of a number of Members of the Oireachtas who visited the refugee camps on the Ukrainian, Romanian and Moldovan borders where I witnessed first-hand the scale and extent of human tragedy starting to unfold. In March 2020, the European Commission proposed to activate the temporary protection directive, which is scheduled to come to an end on 4 March 2025. It has to be said, it is completely unclear at this time what measures will be put in place by the Government to address the situation in respect of those unable to return to Ukraine following this date. We know that at this point, there are approximately 103,000 Ukrainians within the State. However, we believe it is incumbent on the Government to signal now to those Ukrainians in Ireland and to the EU that when the temporary protection directive expires in March of next year at the latest, Ukrainians will be subject to the State's immigration laws. Ukrainians who wish to remain in Ireland past that expiration date should be allowed to start applying now for critical skills permits, for example. If their home part of Ukraine still remains unsafe at that time, they should be allowed to apply for international protection within our system. However, that requires additional resourcing to cope with the additional numbers who will be availing of it at that point. What we need is information. What we need from the Government now is to give clarity.

Ireland was quick to enthusiastically express its willingness to accept large numbers of refugees, which was the right thing to do. At the time, I recall figures of up to 200,000 being talked about and despite the fact that these figures were being freely thrown about by Minister after Minister in the Government, the lack of planning and foresight by the Government has been absolutely shocking. There is absolutely no plan whatsoever. We have now reached a point where in budget 2024, 26% of the budget of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman's, Department will go towards temporary and international protection spending, that is, 20% towards Ukrainian supports and 6% towards international protection accommodation services. It is estimated that this year, there will be somewhere in the region of between 12,000 and 15,000 international protection applicants. That compares with an average figure of 3,500 per year between 2017 and 2019.

The single biggest failure of this Government on the whole issue of immigration has been its failure to hold fear in check. Fear is being allowed to travel unchecked and untrammelled across the State. This is down to a singular failure by the Government to communicate clearly with communities. The prevalence of fear has positioned discourse on the issue soundly in the field of emotionalism. It is the great tragedy of the history of human interaction that when the base is mired in an emotional miasma of fear, factual and rational discussion is rarely allowed to be heard. This is the feverish environment this Government has created. Within the information vacuum that has been left by the Government, far-right agitators have been allowed to hold court.

They have used the moment to foment fear. International applicants have been assaulted on our streets. Accommodation centres have been burned to the ground. Members of this House have been accosted on the street outside our national Parliament. The streets of our city centre were burned in uncontrolled riots. The lack of prosecutions continues to embolden these criminals. The Government’s communication strategy is a shambles. There is no clear evidence that a coherent communications strategy has been in place at any time. There is no evidence of a Government prepared to engage in good faith with communities to listen to their concerns, temper their fears and to address the added strain on services that are already at breaking point across the State. The disparities allowed to exist in terms of the Government offering full access to social welfare and higher rates of payment than other countries has left Ireland out of step with its EU counterparts. There is no doubt that change is needed to bring Ireland’s policy into line with other European countries. Change should come but it must be humane. For those Ukrainians currently in Ireland, it should avoid cliff edges and it should be staged. The changes to rates of social welfare payments, which must happen, must be guided by the need to provide adequacy, decency and life with dignity.

We support the reduction of social welfare payments for new arrivals from Ukraine but we are concerned that the Government is creating a perverse incentive that will heap further pressure on the private rented sector. The Government is doing this for social welfare payments for newly arriving Ukrainians who are living in designated accommodation centres only while continuing to offer social welfare payments equal to those Ukrainians who live in the private rented sector.

Sinn Féin proposes to amend the International Protection Act 2015 and the related social welfare legislation to fully decouple cash supports for beneficiaries of temporary protection directive from the ordinary social protection system. A review of the equity and adequacy of payments to international protection applicants must also be conducted. Sinn Féin remains committed to phasing out direct provision. However, given the significant escalation of the numbers coming here, the priority in the short to medium term must be the provision of larger accommodation centres to afford shelter, safety and necessary services to those fleeing war or persecution while reducing to the greatest extent possible the reliance on buildings and land that should really be used for other purposes, including hotels, nursing homes, student accommodation and, indeed, critical ordinary housing. These centres should be human rights compliant and allow for a level of privacy and dignity for all occupants. Sinn Féin would prioritise the creation of State-run accommodation centres that would include the use of vacant office blocks so that the basic needs of Ukrainians and asylum seekers looking for shelter can be met safely. Sinn Féin would also prioritise the use of hotels and other buildings to their original purposes to the greatest extent possible to restore local tourism-based economies and vital services for communities that are at breaking point in many places.

At the outset of the Russian invasion, it made sense to award medical cards automatically to those seeking safety here, deferring the means test to a later date. However, the HSE was issued policy instructions in 2023 to continue to award the medical card automatically for a full 12 months to Ukrainians who continued to arrive. This was despite the absence of operational capacity barriers to conducting an earlier means test and despite the provision in Irish law that entitlements should be on the same basis as Irish citizens. Sinn Féin proposes reducing the preferential treatment in the award of medical cards by conducting medical card means tests earlier for all.

I am opposed to open borders. It is a position Sinn Féin has laid clear over many years, including in our 2020 election manifesto. We favour a rules-based system on immigration and migration guided and governed by humanitarian concerns, similar to those that exist in other European countries, where we have control of our borders. We must have a fair, efficient and enforced migration and immigration system. It should be a system with well functioning rules and regulations that is fully and comprehensively understood by all. The International Protection Act 2015 empowers and sets the parameters in which the Minister can designate countries as safe. Conditions include that it can be shown that there is generally and consistently no persecution, torture, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment and no threat of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict. This assumption that a country is generally for its citizens to live facilitates faster processing of IP applications.

I will conclude in a moment. This is Sinn Féin time, in fairness.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I am only going by what is here.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Of course, each IP application must be assessed individually and the applicant may be judged on their particular circumstances. There were eight safe countries and now it is proposed that there be ten. Sinn Féin supports this. Other countries have more safe countries and different countries on their safe lists. That needs to be looked at. There are also systems that have partial designation of countries as safe. That is something that also needs to be looked at. Sinn Féin proposes that we amend the legislation to allow partial countries to be designated as safe.

There has been a serious failure by the Government to plan. That has not been only over the past two years since the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Successive Governments over many decades have neglected and failed communities the length and breadth of the State. In the past two years we have seen the chickens come home to roost. Communities have felt vulnerable and let down by a Government that has neglected them time and again. What we need is change and investment in communities. I am under no illusion that the Government will deliver on that and make the changes that communities need. I am convinced that will only come about with a change of government.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I do not mean to interrupt the Deputy but I am only going by what is here.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Thank you. That is no problem.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Deputies can sort it out among themselves but I am going by what is here. There is less than four minutes each.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The story of Ireland is a story of migration. Irish people have been forced to move to every corner of the world during periods of famine, hunger, conflict and poverty. Countries have been made richer because of the positive contribution that Irish emigrants, their children and grandchildren have made. Today our migration story has evolved. Thousands of our young people leave Ireland and continue to enrich other parts of the world with their work ethic, positive disposition and sheer grit. Too many of those who leave do so not because they want to but because they feel forced to, primarily due to the housing crisis. The export of our young people has been and remains the constant component of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments over the past 100 years.

Over the past couple of decades, of course, we have also seen growing levels of inward migration. Just as other countries have been enriched by Irish emigration to those parts, we too can be and have been enriched by the contribution of those who have come to Ireland. For that to continue, we need a migration system that is well managed and seen to be fair, effective and enforced.

That is Sinn Féin's objective - not open borders as some try to portray. The problem is the Government's approach is not seen as well managed, fair, efficient or effective. That is particularly the case with international protection emergency accommodation. If the Government was purposely setting out to antagonise local communities, it could not have done a better job. Communities wake up to find that their local hotel, pub, nursing home or other business has been turned into emergency accommodation. There is no discussion, engagement or appraisal whatsoever as to the impact on a community of losing out on that business. There is no interaction with schools, GPs or other service providers. The only consideration is the availability of a building and that is unfair on those who are to be accommodated and it is unfair on local communities. The only winners are those private operators who are making huge sums. It contains all the ingredients for the anger and frustration we have seen in our communities.

The system is broken. It is failing those seeking asylum and it is failing local communities who have already been failed by Government mismanagement of housing, health and other public services. Mismanagement of international protection can be added to the list. The Government signed up to the temporary protection directive in respect of Ukraine and has become an outlier in the conditions offered. It suggested at one point that we may have up to 200,000 arrivals from Ukraine but of course there was no plan to deal with this, as Sinn Féin had called for, and no consideration as to the capacity issues that were evident at that time. Those temporary measures expire next year and the Government must plan, and in a way it did not previously, and signal that our immigration laws and an overhaul of the international protection system will apply across the board.

The Government still has not sorted out the international protection process. If people come to Ireland seeking asylum they deserve that their application be processed quickly. There are no excuses for it to still take years. If people are entitled to asylum, they should be quickly given the supports necessary to enter the workforce and help enrich our country, as the Irish have done elsewhere. If they are not entitled to asylum, they leave and the Government must make sure they leave because the Government has failed and the system is broken. It must be fixed so that we can write a new chapter in our migration story; one where our young people can live, work, and afford a house in Ireland if that is their wish, and one where we are enriched by an immigration and asylum system that works for those who move here, for all of our communities and for every part of our diverse society.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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The reality for an awful lot of communities throughout the country is that the first time they hear an asylum centre will open is very soon before it happens. There is no preparation from the point of view of providing services. That is the big issue I come across everywhere I go. People are concerned. All three Ministers mentioned in their contributions how much work is going into integration and I acknowledge that. There is work going into integration to try to assist people to get language classes and so on. That is for the people who come from other countries, who do have needs. The people who are already here are in intense competition, which is the problem we have, for services that are very scarce. That is where the anger comes from. People live in communities where there are children on waiting lists to see a psychologist because the child has autism and they cannot get services so they have to pay for it themselves. There are people who find they have huge issues with everything, including health services, education services. Then they hear another 300 people are coming. We have an obligation to welcome and help those people when they come and to provide places for them. However, we also have an obligation to ensure we put services in for everybody and to ensure everybody wins from this situation.

Unfortunately, a small number of very narrow-minded, devious people who are using this for their own ends. The right-wing element is continually trying to cause division among communities and among people. We have to stand firmly against all of that, of course, but we also have to stand for something. We have to stand for appropriate services. We have to stand to ensure people get what they deserve, everywhere.

In an awful lot of communities that asylum seekers joined, they improved those communities. The fears were found to be totally ill-founded. I know that in my own community. Nobody has any problems with people who came to Ballinamore and nobody has any problems with people who came to other places. Yet, we continue to hear these negative stories being spread and put up in different places around the country. Unfortunately, because people are concerned they have waited so long to get adequate services for things they need for themselves, they are very easily brought down this road that these very devious, narrow-minded, right-wing people are opening up for them. We have to fight against that. Sometimes I think given the way things have been done in the past couple of years, that the Government has done a great service to the far right in this country. It has provided ample ground for the far right to be able to spread its nonsense and for people to be able to buy into it. That is a big responsibility we all share to ensure we stop that.

Primarily, it is the Government that has put the services in place. The Minister spoke about what the Government intends to do now. Four or five years ago I sat on the justice committee and we had the report from Mr. Justice McMahon and the report from Dr. Catherine Day. We had all of the things we were going to do but nothing was done. Now we find ourselves in this situation so the Government has to take a little responsibility and recognise that the failings that have occurred are failings of Government.

Housing is the biggest issue. The problem we have with housing is we have people in different towns around the country who have family members who cannot rent a house or get the housing assistance payment, HAP. There is nothing available. They then see a building being prepared and think that it may be perhaps turned into five, six or ten apartments and that their relative will get an apartment. They then discover the building is to be used for direct provision or for Ukrainian people to stay in, which is fine. We have no problem with that but the difficulty is that it causes a huge problem to those people who find the competition for the services they need is being intensified so much that it is driving them crazy and opens them up to all of these deviant people out there whom we all have to stand against. The Minister may come and say, "We are making great progress", but the reality for people on the ground is that they see very little of that progress and that needs to change.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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I welcome the opportunity to make a statement on the issue of service provision for international protection applicants and recipients, and, indeed, on the topic of immigration, and, more broadly, our international protection system.

Certain Deputies have recently given the impression that they believe that this topic is off limits, that having the debate is somehow being stifled by some grand conspiracy and that we must simply accept Government policy and move along. Of course, that is not the case. Deputies are free to raise issues as they see fit in their own time, be it on Leader’s Questions or in Private Members; time or whenever the case may be, and so they have. Some have done so at times in the most despicable terms. In the past number of weeks and months, we have heard Deputies use their time to spread misinformation and disinformation about immigrants and international protection applicants, trying to link immigration with criminality, using just about every dog-whistle imaginable and stopping just shy of outright racism. This has not just happened from Deputies in this House; it has happened on the ground in constituencies too where leaflets have been dropped warning of conflict where modular homes were being built for Ukrainian refugees or taking to the stage at various rallies. It can be difficult sometimes to state where the line of decency is in the abstract but when we are presented with a situation it is very clear, at least to those who I believe are on the right side of this debate, to know when they have overstepped and have fed the far right in their actions.

This is not debate; this is fearmongering. This is preying on whatever legitimate concerns or anxieties people have and pointing them towards vulnerable people. This is straight out of the far-right playbook. We are now at a point where people coming to Ireland seeking protection here – fleeing war, or persecution, or economic migrants who come here looking for a better life, just as millions of Irish people have gone and continue to go to other countries. These vulnerable people now feel unsafe in our country, which is most shameful. I have always been proud that we in Ireland did not fall prey to these hateful and dangerous narrative as many of our neighbours across Europe have.

I spoke recently with a man who lives in an area that has taken in a number of Ukrainian refugees over the past two years. He told me that these people had joined the local choir and were integrating well into the community. Indeed, the local people had welcomed them with open arms, a story that is very familiar to many of us throughout the country. Regrettably, over time fewer and fewer of the Ukrainian people have been going to choir practices. When asked, they say they are afraid to put themselves out there in the communities where they are being housed. They no longer feel welcome. They say clearly that it is not people within the community who are making them feel unwelcome; it is what they see online, including all the hate and all the falsehoods. They are seeing misinformation and disinformation that is then being amplified by many, including Deputies in this House. It is important to note, and it is something that gets lost in all the hysteria whipped up by bad actors, that the overwhelming majority of communities have been like the one I just mentioned.

They have welcomed these vulnerable people and embraced their new neighbours.

The scenes that we saw recently in Roscrea or those seen previously in East Wall are very much in the minority. That is not to say these sorts of scenes should not concern us. I do not think any of us will ever be able to forget some of those images, or the burnt-out refugee encampment just down the road from us here in central Dublin. Of all the appalling hate we have seen directed towards refugees and international protection applicants recently, that is the one that stands out in particular for the sheer absence of compassion and sympathy for these vulnerable people. It is also the action that caused the most severe harm.

However, there have been other instances of concern. An alarming number of arson attacks have been carried out on facilities earmarked not only for international protection accommodation but for homeless accommodation through the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. These are real, tangible threats to people's safety, not some imaginary or hypothetical threat posed by migrants, and they will end up causing death. It is vital that we halt the spread of misinformation and disinformation and combat those who seek to advance an agenda of hate, fear, xenophobia and racism. However, neither that nor anything I previously said absolves the Government of its failings in how it dealt with both the recent arrival of international protection applicants or the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment.

Broadly speaking, the Government's failings are twofold: a failure of communication and of service provision. I will deal with the latter first, as it is more straightforward. The Taoiseach's intervention recently to clarify our international protection system was welcome. It is important that people are informed about how it works: the application process, how people coming into the country are vetted – because they are vetted; there is no such thing as an unvetted migrant - and also the entitlements provided to successful applicants.

Unfortunately, that intervention has come way too late. Why has it taken until recently for the entire Government to begin clarifying matters? It should have taken a much more proactive approach to its communications, as has been taken by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien. I do not think their approach has been followed by the entire Government.

The second failure relates to communication with the communities hosting refugees and IP applicants. I want to be very careful here because I do not want to give the wrong impression. It is not the position of the Labour Party that communities should be consulted, as that implies they should have a veto on hosting refugees and asylum seekers. We do not believe that anyone should have a veto. None of us gets to decide who our neighbours are, but we do believe that communities should be informed about what is happening in advance. Great models have been developed and have emerged in the past two years, since the invasion of Ukraine, which show just how well communities can work when resources are put in place to provide communication. Communities should be given the opportunity to welcome and embrace their new neighbours. Like I have said, the overwhelming majority of communities have done so, but they should know what resources they have at their disposal.

I am running out of time so I will skip ahead. We need to resource communities in the immediate term. This needs a whole-of-government approach. I sympathise with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, whom I have dealt with personally on issues relating to my constituency. Their instinctive and actual approach to communication and in trying to get resources is the correct one. They are trying to do the right thing but the Labour Party does not believe they have been supported either by the Department of the Education, the Department of Health or the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

We believe what Ireland faces is not a challenge of immigration but another aspect of the crisis of accommodation and housing. I am pleased the Minister for Health has joined us, because we need to see a specific approach to the provision of health services to migrant communities. We know that local GPs, primary care centres and acute hospital settings are under pressure, but we need resources where we are going to be accommodating a significant number of people. We need locum GPs and community health teams to be put in place to ensure that when people arrive the appropriate services are available and they get the help they need. This is the kind of whole-of-government response we in the Labour Party want.

The Government must give serious consideration to the Labour Party's proposal to appoint a dedicated Minister of State with responsibility for immigration, to co-ordinate the response to refugees coming to Ireland. Such a person would work across Departments and ensure communities got the information and resources they deserve. We have a Minister of State in Deputy Joe O'Brien who has stepped up to this responsibility, but he also has other responsibilities that demand his attention.

The Labour Party believes that any discussion on migration must be rooted in compassion for those fleeing war, violence and poverty. Leaving one's homeland is not a decision anyone would take lightly. It is also our position in the Labour Party that these conversations must be grounded in a sense in an acknowledgement of our own history as a people who, for generations, have sought work and shelter across the world. Increasingly, I hear the claim that when Irish people emigrate, we do not receive any help from wherever it is we go; we simply pull up our bootstraps and work hard. This is not an accurate assertion: it is disinformation in plain view. Wherever we go, there have been some among us who have received welfare or relied on the help of charities.

For the most part, we have contributed massively to the societies that have and continue to play host to us, just as immigrants in Ireland contribute massively to our society. We cannot forget that the Irish economy and critical public services would grind to a halt without the immense contribution made by many from a migrant background. Half of our nurses are from abroad and much of our hospitality sector is made up of migrants. In so many ways, our migrant communities have greatly enriched our society.

I will finish by saying this: the Labour Party is clear – Ireland does not have an immigration problem. The problems facing all communities across Irish society have arisen due to a chronic underinvestment in public services and a failed housing policy. Neither of those elements are the fault of those coming to Ireland for protection. The Government must begin to take investment in public infrastructure seriously and adopt a whole-of-government approach to ensure that communities are supported in hosting, welcoming and supporting those seeking protection. Everyone in this House must be mindful of his or her own actions, be it in their contributions here or in their constituencies.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teach as ucht an ama agus an deis seo a thabhairt dom. I thank the House for the opportunity to discuss the co-ordination and response in the education area to those seeking protection here in Ireland. My Department is committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.

As Minister for Education, and as a teacher, I firmly believe schools continuously strive to create an inclusive environment for children from diverse backgrounds, encompassing Irish children as well as children from migrant and refugee families.

Schools play a vital role in their communities. Integration in school is important for the well-being of children and young people. It is also important in promoting social cohesion and reducing prejudice in all parts of society. I want to assure the House that meeting the educational needs of children and young people seeking protection is important to me as Minister and to my officials. As a Department, we are committed to continuing our support for those substantial efforts we are seeing from school communities on the ground.

I wish to pay particular tribute to the fantastic work that our schools have done in welcoming so many children and young people seeking protection who have arrived in our country in recent times, and previously. I have witnessed at first hand this exceptional effort by all members of school communities, boards of management, principals, staff, students and families, as well as the wider community. My Department's policy of integrating school-aged migrant children and young people into existing schools as quickly as possible, given that it can have a stabilising effect on children, has worked well to date because of the enormous level of co-operation by schools on the ground.

Members will appreciate the scale of the response needed, given that well over 100,000 people have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine alone since the beginning of the war. Alongside Ukrainian people seeking protection, 26,500 people from different nationalities are also seeking protection here. Just over 18,000 children from Ukraine have now enrolled in schools in every county across the State. This includes more than 11,000 children in primary schools and almost 7,000 in post-primary schools. In addition, there are more than 3,600 children enrolled in schools that are living in IPAS settings.

The Department of Education established regional education and language teams, known as REALT, to support existing services in responding to the needs of Ukrainians and children seeking international protection in accessing education.

Their primary role is to assist in securing school places for children and to support schools in meeting the needs of children as they arise. Children and young people learning English as an additional language, EAL, require well-planned support tailored to meet their individual language needs in order to participate fully in school life and derive maximum benefit from their education.

The Department provides English language support to schools with pupils who are newly arrived in the country with English as an additional language. Schools may also apply for further language support through the staffing appeals process. Figures show that 1,676 primary and 491 post-primary schools have applied for and are now receiving EAL teaching resources. In 2022, additional temporary special education supports were put in place to support schools with large Ukrainian enrolments. Schools in which ten or more Ukrainian pupils are enrolled are provided with additional special education teaching resources and schools with 15 or more Ukrainian pupils are provided with additional special needs assistants. A total of 611 schools received additional temporary special education teaching hours and 374 received additional temporary SNA supports. The same level of resources is available under a separate process to support schools that have enrolled a significant number of children seeking international protection.

Children fleeing the war in Ukraine and those seeking international protection can face challenges relating to personal, physical and emotional safety. The well-being of children is at the core of all that we do in the education system. Supporting well-being allows children to feel safe and happy in school and to learn. We are lucky that our schools provide a caring and supportive environment in which children can flourish. Guidance counsellors support refugee and migrant children in post-primary schools in terms of personal, social, educational and career development. This could include, for example, advice for Ukrainian students about which programme to enrol in at senior cycle level, information on grants, subject choice and entry requirements to institutions and career guidance information.

As well as providing supports to schools, the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, continues to gather information on Ukrainian and other refugee experiences through interaction in schools, participation in REALTs and keeping up to date with national and international research. On the basis of the evidence and experience, NEPS has developed a range of supports and resources for refugee and migrant children, including well-being resources for students from Ukraine, which are available on gov.ie. They include advice on supporting children with special education needs and supporting children at a time of war.

I thank the House for the opportunity to provide an update on the actions being taken to support the educational needs of students arriving in Ireland seeking protection. I again salute the work of school communities to foster welcoming and inclusive school environments.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Since the start of the humanitarian response to the war in Ukraine and the increase in the number of those seeking international protection, the Government has responded with a wide range of measures. I will address the healthcare measures. The Department of Health and the HSE have been at the forefront in the provision of services for all eligible arrivals. The HSE has developed a refugee and migrant health model to provide a flexible local healthcare response to address the unmet needs of the almost 132,000 new arrivals from Ukraine and other countries. This approach can respond to areas of higher demand, different types of accommodation provision and local health service factors. It includes health assessments, catch-up immunisation clinics and additional GP sessions where local capacity challenges are identified.

The Government is providing €50 million in 2024 to develop the HSE refugee and migrant health model, which includes the provision of medical cards for eligible arrivals. The health model is delivered through the HSE primary care and social inclusion service, which is a fully integrated part of the community-based healthcare service. It provides strong governance and oversight and helps us identify additional demands in local areas.

In addition, the HSE continues to develop and expand public health and primary care services, including the delivery of new primary care centres and enhanced community care services for the entire population. It is worth pointing out that those arriving here seeking assistance and fleeing war in Ukraine are predominantly women and children. Only a small proportion are presenting with significant health needs. A full medical card is provided for Ukrainian refugees and people who register as international protection applicants. An initial health assessment is provided in the national transit centre. An individual health questionnaire has been completed by more than 42,000 people arriving from Ukraine as of January this year. Special GP clinics are being provided to respond to capacity challenges resulting from significant increases in demand for services, particularly in areas where access to primary and community care services may be more challenging. The Department of Health and the HSE are in the process of identifying additional supports that may be required for communities in which there has been a significant number of people arriving - Ukrainians fleeing war and those seeking international protection. This includes reviewing potential additional healthcare needs for general practice services, community-based and primary care services and local hospital services. This is with a view to identifying additional healthcare capacity in addition to the services already provided, which I have gone through.

Regardless of international arrivals, I am acutely aware that there are communities that need better access to health services, be it home care, GP, community or hospital-based services. In response to this general need, the Government is involved in the biggest expansion of our healthcare services in a very long time. It includes a national programme of primary care centres, an entire new community-based healthcare service, more than 1,100 new hospital beds, more than 26,000 more healthcare professionals and a lot more. We are responding to specific local pressures. For example, the Minister, Deputy Foley, and I are working on a plan to bring more GPs to the Iveragh Peninsula, where the number of GPs has fallen from six to three and will soon fall to two. We have specific bespoke services for those arriving in the country. We are in the middle of a massive expansion of our healthcare services to address demand and we are also responding to specific issues, which have been raised.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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If everything said today by Ministers and representatives of the Cabinet was true, factual and working, we would not be having this debate today. In fact, if the Government had listened to the many backbenchers who raised this issue over and over again at our parliamentary party meetings, we would not be here today. Those of us who were trying to assist in communities were hampered by the Government's refusal to give us the information required to build services within the community to deal with the numbers of people who have come in. I lay it squarely at the door of the Minister and the Government.

Property owners submitted applications to the Department to house Ukrainians who came here fleeing war. They spent a huge amount on those properties and they are now being told, having gone through the five stages, that they are no longer needed. What is the Department going to do to compensate the property owners it led along a five-stage process for the money they spent on their properties in the belief that they were in partnership with the Department? I asked this question before at parliamentary party meetings and the Minister has never responded. I want to know what is going to happen to those property owners.

A simple request made of the Department was to change its website regarding the Capuchin facility, as it is called, to some other name. That was not changed either. Local government officials and executives, for example, of Kilkenny County Council, were never informed of what was happening in Kilkenny regarding either international protection applicants or Ukrainian families. They have had to fight for information and continue to do so to be informed, provide services and assist those who arrive. Still, the Department withholds the information, does not share it in the way it should and blames communication. When I see this being described as a failure of communication, essentially it means a crisis caused by the failure of the Government to deliver in this respect.

Children have been taken from schools and located elsewhere in the country overnight simply because the contract for the property they were in ended. People who were working have been uprooted and put elsewhere. How does the Minister expect a local community to integrate these numbers of people if she does not put at their disposal the information that is necessary?

The Ministers all told the House there are all sorts of supports available. That is not true because there are gaps in the system all over the place and it is impossible to get information. Various requests are sent to the Minister and his advisers but there is no response. I ask that there be a level playing field here. Whether people have been living in Ireland or have come here to live as a refugee or an international protection applicant, they should all have the same resources made available to them. That is a core issue in the debate.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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There are challenges within our immigration and asylum system but they are challenges of the Government's own making. They are not the fault of people seeking asylum or of migrants seeking to build a life for themselves and their families here in Ireland. We simply would not function as a country without migration. We would not staff our public services or our private enterprises. We probably all have friends, family members and loved ones who come from abroad, people who we simply could not imagine life without. Our communities and lives would be infinitely worse without migration.

There are voices in this Chamber and around the country who claim otherwise. They see the housing crisis and the crisis in our public services as an opportunity to stir up hatred and direct it towards asylum seekers. Deputy Mattie McGrath stood in front of a rally in Roscrea protesting against accommodation for asylum seekers and warned that Ireland was being colonised again. That is an absolutely disgusting comment and a dangerous one. Deputy McGrath should be ashamed of himself. He can stand here and proclaim all he wants that he is not anti-refugee or anti-migrant but his words and actions speak for themselves.

When announcing his new political party, Deputy Michael Collins said one of his main priorities would be capping the number of migrants entering the country. He is another Deputy who would be up in arms at the suggestion that he has anti-migrant views, despite very clearly pandering to an anti-immigrant vote at the expense, ultimately, of the safety of migrants and refugees. There have been ten arson attacks on refugee accommodation in the past 12 months and Deputies in this Chamber and councillors across the country, from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and the Labour Party, are choosing to stir up anger and misinformation even further.

We are at a real crisis point in public and political rhetoric around refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland and we need to take it very seriously because it is only a matter a time before people get hurt. We need a clear plan from the Government when it comes to housing asylum seekers and Ukrainians across the country. Completely lost, unfortunately, in this debate are the 600 vulnerable men seeking protection in Ireland who have been sleeping rough in sub-zero temperatures with no protection.

The Government's policy is a complete shambles. I do not understand it, the Minister's colleagues do not understand it and the whole country does not understand it. It has been two years since Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine and we still do not have a medium- or long-term plan. Then we see that the Minister for Justice's response is to add two countries, Algeria and Botswana, to the safe country list, meaning all asylum seekers from these countries will be fast-tracked through the process in a couple of weeks. I wonder for whom is Algeria safe because according to the Department of Foreign Affairs, it clearly is not safe for Irish citizens. The Department's website warns against "non-essential travel" due to the risk of terrorist attacks in certain areas there. Algeria is not safe for LGBT people either. Homosexuality is illegal there and is subject to three years' imprisonment. Is putting those two countries on the fast-track list all the Government can come up with? That is absolutely ridiculous.

Where are the six reception centres, the 700 modular homes and the plan for combatting misinformation and engaging proactively with communities? These measures are essential to ensure asylum seekers are integrated into their new communities safely. We cannot continue to allow scenes of traumatised children being ushered through angry, racist mobs to reach safety in accommodation services. The chaotic reactive approach from the Government has only fuelled these problems and has played into the hands of the far right. Several facilities earmarked for accommodation have been abandoned by the Government or the plan has been changed for who will be accommodated in them due to local opposition. By bowing to that pressure, the Government is emboldening the protests and the completely unfounded conspiracy that asylum seekers are somehow dangerous. A centre in Ringsend for homeless accommodation was burnt out on the unfounded suspicion that it would be housing asylum seekers. An incredibly dangerous atmosphere is building and it needs to be de-escalated before people get hurt. Having a smooth functional process for new arrivals and a plan for the future of the asylum system will be essential in calming those tensions.

The rise in number of asylum seekers over the past number of years is often phrased as a crisis. That is not helpful because the reality is that there will always be wars and displacement, not to mention climate change. There will always be people fleeing persecution and seeking a better life. As an economically successful and safe country, Ireland will be an attractive destination. The narrative being put around that Ireland is full, that we should cap migration and put a stop to accepting asylum seekers is completely false. Ireland is not full, nor anywhere close to it. We have not even reached the population we had pre-Famine. We have the means to accommodate our own population and new arrivals. We just need the public policy and political will to provide the infrastructure and services that are required to do that.

Our health service is an excellent example of the priceless contributions that migrants make to Ireland, with one third of registered nurses and midwives identifying as non-Irish from over 117 countries. There are over 100 nationalities working in the staff of Temple Street children's hospital. Despite what some say, the number of asylum seekers is relatively low. With 13,600 in 2023, we are still below the EU average. Ireland should be able to handle this number. Of course, the war in Ukraine put pressure on the system but it has reached this point because the system was creaking at the seams from the get-go.

In November 1999, direct provision was introduced by Fianna Fáil and it has been a stain on our country ever since. It is a continuation of Ireland's brutal history of institutionalisation. Under the original plan, 4,000 permanent spaces were to be constructed by the State quickly. Twenty-four years later, they are still nowhere to be seen. Instead, we have had 24 years of an inhumane degrading system run for profit by private entities that exploited and mistreated asylum seekers every step of the way. This is a system that kept asylum seekers trapped in remote centres like the Mosney accommodation centre, excluded from communities, the workforce and independence. Successive Governments since 1999 have stood by and allowed the system to continue. Some commissioned reports and made a few tweaks around the edges, but none addressed the fundamental problem with the direct provision system. It is a private short-term system for what needs to be a permanent public service.

The Government made a strong commitment in the programme for Government to end direct provision and replace it with a not-for-profit humane system and I fully believe the Minister's personal commitment and belief in that is genuine. While we all understood why this could not happen given external factors like the war in Ukraine, there are steps that should have been taken since then. We are waiting for the Minister's revised paper on ending direct provision, which I understand will be presented in a number of weeks. At the time we accepted that the Minister would not be able to end direct provision as he wanted to do, Dr. Catherine Day published yet another report saying we needed those six reception centres.

Two years later, none of those reception centres is here. The continued reliance on hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation is incredibly expensive and detrimental to towns that rely on them not just for tourism. When there is a hotel in the area, it could be for christenings, funerals, weddings and all of those things.

Finally, everyone has a right to protest and not everyone who finds themselves in opposition to housing asylum seekers is far-right. Many have serious concerns about the pressures on limited local services but I appeal to people who feel these concerns with regard to services to think carefully about where they choose to direct that anger, where they choose to protest and who they stand beside at rallies and demonstrations. They should not allow their complaints about the Government to be conflated with anger towards innocent migrants and asylum seekers. If they find themselves feeling sympathetic to some of the voices who are trying to tell them that somehow, migrants are dangerous, they should not believe them.

The Government has a responsibility to address concerns about services, to communicate with communities and to take a holistic approach to housing asylum seekers. People do not just need roofs over their heads, they need school places, GPs, psychologists and public transport. We need a coherent plan from the Government on the issue and we need it quickly.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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This topic is perhaps one of the most difficult issues that has arisen during our current Dáil term, outside of the pandemic. Unfortunately, as a backbench Government TD, it has been very challenging to deal with as regards our constituents. The public perception of how the Government is handling this is incredibly poor. It is something that, on a day-to-day basis, I am growing increasingly concerned about. Threats have been made to Members of the Oireachtas. The level of violence and intimidation that is ongoing, arson and other issues are something that should be a flashing red light in the Cabinet room. I do not think this is being taken as seriously as it should be by members of the Cabinet.

Those who know the situation in my constituency will probably be unsurprised to hear me say what I am saying. Youghal in County Cork, which is my home town, other locations including Fermoy and other towns in my constituency like Mitchelstown, have hosted large numbers of people from Ukraine as well as IPAS refugees who have arrived in recent times. The management of that has not been as fruitful and productive within those communities as it should be in order to make sure that there is balance and that it is being done properly. Often, there is a failure in some quarters of the public discourse to divide between the people who are very malicious in their intent on this issue and those who have legitimate concerns.

It is very understandable to get the appreciation of why there is so much concern about this at a national level, and we have failed to communicate with members of the public. It does need to be tightened up around what the issues are, why Ireland has to do what it is doing, and what policy measures are being taken to ensure that those who arrive into the country are being vetted, as the public will say, when it comes to their documentation, providing PPSN numbers and making sure biometrics are done. It needs to be explained to the public that this is what is going on because the general public I speak to on a day-to-day basis has very little information to reassure it around that. That is something I would ask Government to go and do, and to listen to because I do not think I am being listened to when it comes to my concerns on these issues and those of my constituents at the moment.

I note that we had the Minister for Education here a few moments ago. One thing that I felt would have been very useful for communities that have taken in very large numbers of refugees, Youghal in particular, was the allocation of desk resources for schools in that community. They need the extra provision of supports from the Department of Education. They need extra SNAs and a reduced teacher-pupil ratio with regard to educational supports for their students. Is this being provided at the moment? Unfortunately, it is not. While we have seen some positive measures around the free school meals programme being rolled out to some schools, it is frustrating when it comes to issues that schools face when they are not being given the resources they need.

I am also conscious of people who feel that there is one approach being taken for people who have come into the country having escaped from horrific situations, violence and war, and who are being provided with the full resources of the State, and those who are resident here full-time. There have been so many unnecessary issues that have occurred around that. I will give one prime example. In Youghal, there is a school bus serving the town and because of a funding problem, it is no longer profitable. There was a commercial school bus operation running in the town up until recently, which was withdrawn. However, when it comes to people within the asylum centre there, which I believe is the second biggest in the country outside of City West, they are being provided with that school transport. One might look at something like this as trivial but it is not trivial to the parents involved. With something as simple as that, it is easy for tensions to occur when it is completely unnecessary. That discretionary pot of money that needs to be made available to communities, and particularly to their schools, is something that the Government should desperately look at because it is just not being done.

I was very unhappy with the integration supports that were released through the Department the last time around. I felt they did not go anywhere near far enough to address problems within those areas that have taken large numbers. One of the very much deliverable tasks the Government should take on itself to do is around DEIS provision for those schools, which would be hugely welcome and would make a difference for everybody. That is just one key area. My other message is that there needs to be a national communications campaign done as a matter of absolute urgency to inform the public about how this is being managed and what the numbers actually are. Something that also needs to be communicated is the people who are returning to Ukraine. There have been huge numbers of people who have returned home. Obviously, we have got inbound migrants the whole time but that is something that is not being communicated properly.

I will finish on this point. I am uncomfortable with the centres that were used exclusively for Ukrainians that are now changing purpose, and the complete lack of communication around this. We saw this with the Quality Hotel in Youghal recently. It is unacceptable that this is allowed to continue, where there is no communication with the community leaders and public representatives. We hear hearsay and concern from local communities for weeks upon weeks sometimes but we are not actually told what is going on. What we have in that vacuum is what is occurring in places like Tipperary and east Cork in my own constituency, where there are these meaningless protests taking place, where effectively a huge amount of misinformation is allowed to fill that vacuum. That, to me, is utterly unacceptable and needs to be addressed urgently by the Departments involved.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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I welcome this opportunity to speak on the services and accommodation for people seeking protection in Ireland. It is very positive that we, as a nation, can provide those supports to people fleeing violence, war, oppression and brutality, and that they can come here and most importantly be safe but also be valuable and contributing members of society, if we let them, which is an important thing that I will come back to.

One of the issues is that yes, we need massive integration supports. We need supports for communities and for the people who are coming here. They need supports in overcoming the trauma they have experienced, in finding jobs and in finding ways to contribute to the community. We know that is what they want to do. They want to find a place for education for their children and they want to be able to contribute. Certainly in my own area of Dublin South-Central, there has been a huge community groundswell to provide that support and to fill in those gaps. Groups like Drimnagh For All, Walkinstown For All and Ballyfermot For All have done Trojan work in welcoming and meeting people, trying to assure them of their safety and helping to meet their needs. Over the weekend gone, there was a really positive event with local families meeting new families who have just arrived, trying to facilitate and support them and to provide one-to-one care and supports, all of the things the Government should be doing. When it happens, it is extraordinary to see the new connections and new friendships and these new, productive community members that we have coming in to our communities. It is absolutely needed and it shows the strength of our communities.

The challenge is that many of these communities have been infiltrated by or are under siege from a small but violent mob that is deeply anti-democratic and reactionary. We have seen a massive increase in violence and threats.

We have seen a huge number of arson attacks with very little response and certainly no arrests. I do not believe the Garda is treating this in any way seriously. I have said that at the justice committee. In my questioning of Commissioner Drew Harris there, I stated my belief that gardaí are not taking the issue in any way seriously or treating the threat with as much care as they should. We see the leakage of this into other areas. As has been said, many people in this House have been directly threatened by the same people who make up this small, violent, anti-democratic group. If we are to provide a safe place for people, we need to take very seriously the threat posed by this group. When we welcome new people to our communities and forge new friendships as we go forward, it can be very beneficial for those communities and for Ireland.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Without question, immigration is a topic that is at the forefront of many of our minds at this time. We are reading about it in the newspapers, seeing posts online and speaking about it with our family and friends. I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak about it in the House. I want to leave Members in no doubt as to my view of immigration, which is that it has been good for this country. Many of those who have come to live and work here are breathing new life into our villages, keeping our schools open and, in working tirelessly in our hospitals and care homes, making a magnificent contribution to our health service. Many more are providing the expertise that makes us so attractive to the multinational companies whose taxes fund much of our national spending. Many others are working on construction sites, building all the homes that are desperately needed.

All of that does not mean we can be blind to the challenges that have come with some elements of migration, particularly the challenge for the international protection system in needing to provide for those who seek protection until their cases are heard and dealt with. In my role as Minister for Justice, I will never apologise for doing everything I possibly can to provide justice, solace and safety for those who are fleeing persecution. We only have to think of the scenes of war and devastation we are seeing on our televisions screens every day and night to see the need for such protection. We need only think of the awful accounts of torture that we read and hear of to see that. Knowing this, how can we possibly not want this wonderful, welcoming country of ours to provide protection to those people? The simple answer is that we cannot. We want to be a safe and welcoming place for those who need our protection. I absolutely agree with Deputy Costello that we need to send a strong message to those who wish to use a challenging situation to sow division, create fear among communities and tell people they are not welcome.

Our challenge is to manage a situation in which the protection system is often used by others, namely, those who are fleeing economic deprivation. We can have sympathy towards, and understanding of, those whose circumstances are really difficult and who long for a better life. Indeed, those were the very circumstances that led so many of our family members and ancestors to leave this country. However, there are legal paths for those who want to come here to live and work and those paths should be used. The international protection system is not for those we would call economic migrants. That is why, today, I designated a further two countries, Algeria and Botswana, as safe. In doing so, I am declaring that those who come here from those countries seeking international protection will, from tomorrow, enter into the system of accelerated processing and have their cases decided upon within 90 days. Making sure applications are processed quickly means those who need our protection are given the opportunity to rebuild their life here in Ireland in a timely manner. It also means that those who do not qualify are sent back home. This swift and fair decision-making in turn creates a disincentive for others to try to abuse the international protection system.

My Department has made significant investment in staff, technology and re-engineering processes at the International Protection Office. That investment, which has been happening for the past year and a half to two years, is delivering. Over the course of last year in particular, we tripled the number of monthly decisions, while processing times for applicants from safe countries reduced to under ten weeks, with numbers arriving from those locations dropping considerably We must do more. That is why, today, as well as expanding the list of safe countries, I also put in place a means of clamping down on those who come here having already received protection in another EU state. From tomorrow, they will enter into an inadmissibility procedure with even swifter accelerated processing.

Much has been done. With migration having become such an issue for all countries in Europe, not just Ireland, I am also looking at the implications for us of joining the EU pact on migration and asylum. Its aim is to establish a more coherent approach across the EU to migration, asylum, integration and border management. I will be recommending very soon to my Cabinet colleagues that we opt into the pact. It is a big decision but one to which we must give strong consideration. International co-operation is becoming ever more important, given the absolute necessity to ensure we are fully fit to respond, fairly but also firmly, to migration as it establishes itself as one of the biggest issues in the fast-moving world of the 21st century.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I am sorry to report back to the Minister and her colleagues that the experience I have seen in Donegal and across the country of how the Government has handled the challenge of refugees and asylum seekers has been nothing short of shambolic. I give the example of a national school in my constituency. I still find it utterly shocking how the situation was handled. Sessiaghoneill National School saw an increase in pupil numbers in October 2022 of 52. The numbers rose from approximately 152 to 204, which was a substantial increase of one third. The new pupils were the children of refugees and asylum seekers. The school was welcoming, with wonderful support given to the children. I am glad to say they flourished in that environment. However, because the children were not enrolled before the deadline of 30 September, they received no financial support. The school staff were repeatedly in contact with the Department of Education asking for the same support per capitafor the new pupils as it receives for every other child. The staff pointed out that the school was only days over the deadline and these were exceptional circumstances. Their requests were ignored again and again. It got to the point that the school's funding was down by €30,000. I raised its situation in this House as a Topical Issue and one to one with the Minister. A solution was never found. Here was a school that provided a warm welcome and an environment of support for those children and their families and it was down €30,000 due to the wilful neglect of the Department and the refusal of the Minister to allow them to be supported on exceptional grounds. That is no way to treat people.

When I look across Donegal, I see there are now more than 7,000 Ukrainian refugees and almost 2,000 asylum seekers accommodated in the county. In most instances, that has been done with the support of the community. People's goodwill was thrown back in their faces. There has been an impact on tourism, with half of hotel beds in the county now taken up in accommodating people. In a county that has economically struggled, opportunistic investors are securing buildings, some their own and some from others, and providing those buildings to the Department. I do not blame the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, for this. He was abandoned by the rest of the Cabinet and left on his own to deal with the problem. There was no co-ordinated approach with housing, health, education, social services and so on. None of that happened. It was all left to the Minister and his officials. They were put in crisis mode looking to find buildings. It was a complete disservice.

Donegal has taken more refugees and asylum seekers per capitathan any other county in the State. I will not for one moment stand for anybody questioning the calibre or decency of our people when they ask genuine questions, like people did in the school to which I referred. There are people in communities asking legitimate questions such as how the extra responsibility will be sustained if they already cannot get an appointment with their GP. People cannot get their children into the national school because there is a queue for places. Was any research done on that? There was none. TDs and councillors only found out what was happening after it did - in some instances, after asylum seekers were placed in temporary emergency centres and, in other instances, days before they arrived. This left us at the front line of the absolute outrage in our communities at how people were treated. Their goodwill was taken for granted again and again.

The Government must accept that its handling of this issue has been shambolic.

It has abandoned the Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, to try to handle it all on his own. Now there is clear anger all across the country, whereby people who do not have not a racist bone in their bodies and who say they responded to the original crisis in Ukraine are now asking questions again and again. A small minority of our people are racist and they are taking advantage of this but the Government's handling of this in communities is playing into their hands. Please listen to people like me who have stood up for the underprivileged and disadvantaged all my political life. I do not have a racist bone in my body. I am an internationalist person. I am telling the Government that this is being handled appallingly. Good people have been burnt badly by all of this experience. The Government needs to rebuild those relationships, listen to the people and make changes now

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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I am someone who speaks frequently in this House on the issues of equity and fairness and the fair distribution of Exchequer funding to support all citizens and residents of our country. Regarding the issue of migration, I might refer people to the health sector, which I know well and frequently reference. I would challenge anyone who is blind to the participation and invaluable contribution that non-national people in Ireland make. We just have to look at our acute hospital, primary care, community care and most especially our residential care sectors. The truth is that whatever people may think, without the participation of people who arrive to our shores, whether through the formal visa application process or other residency leave processes, we could not provide care to our most vulnerable without the wonderful contributions of such people.

Part of the recent national debate has focused on some of our more rural areas and the reactions there to inward migration and placement, whether it is Ukrainian refugees or temporary protection applicants. A large part of that reaction has been hijacked and positioned to appear as being far-right naked racism lurking there. How many people have taken the time to understand the level of community resourcing available in such parts of the country before moving significant numbers of people into these areas was contemplated under Government relocation programmes? Is it wrong for people in the regions to wonder why there does not seem to be the same impetus to target buildings in Dublin, such as the Jury's Ballsbridge site, or the Baggot Street hospital site for migration and accommodation?

Should people in the country who have been left out of national Exchequer support for years not have a right to feel some outrage when it appears that they are carrying, yet again, a far heavier, and perhaps unfair burden, compared to those they perceive to be making such decisions? Are people who are asking for additional policing, teaching or medical resources out of step when they wonder what level of background checks and vetting are being provided to people who are arriving into their communities, sometimes with little advance notice? They need more support and that is what they are saying.

My firm belief is that racism and the far-right agenda have been hijacked. However, it does not represent who the Irish people are. These things are certainly being used as a tool and are being deployed to provide for an ultra-right agenda. People want to see processes that are clearly understood, managed, communicated and resourced. That is what people need to see being rolled out. People in Irish communities are crying out for housing. They see a planning process that does not work for them and yet can be sidestepped when it comes to bringing people in for international placement. That is an inequity and is something the Government needs to look at.

It is the responsibility of Government to fully communicate the overall migration policy. To that point, I refer the Minister to an ambiguity I noticed today. We have announced Algeria as being a safe country in terms of international protection application and yet on the Department of Foreign Affairs website, Irish citizens are advised not to travel to Algeria, except for essential reasons and to exercise a high degree of caution. There is ambiguity in the communication strategy. This is the first thing that needs to be referenced by the Minister.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask the indulgence of Deputies Canney and Tóibín. There has been a mistake with the speaker list. I will ask the Minister to take the floor now with the Deputies' agreement. I will come back to the Deputies.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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That was an example of remarkable co-operation.

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to make a short contribution to this debate in the context of the challenging discussions and arguments we have in this House regarding migration. As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I think we should keep in mind just how important inward migration is for Ireland's economy. Two out of every five doctors in Ireland were not born here and 50% of nurses in Irish hospitals were not born here. We have half a million people working in the Irish economy, paying taxes, contributing significantly to economic growth and innovation and business growth who were not born in Ireland. Every year, we facilitate inward migration that allows an economy to keep growing, expanding and providing career opportunities for many Irish people. Let us not forget that we have almost full employment in Ireland today. With business growth and the capacity challenges that come with that in terms of human resources, we need to continue to facilitate bringing skills from other parts of the world. We need to welcome that and reassure those people that they are welcome here. The scenes of intimidation and violence we saw before Christmas need a really strong response from this House in terms of the message we send to non-Irish nationals working here and who are very much a part of our cities, towns and economy.

Last year, we had approximately 38,000 applications for work permits, of which we granted 31,000. Around half of those were people coming to Ireland for the first time while the other half were renewals. This gives a sense of the volume and the positive impact they are still having. There are many businesses in Ireland today that simply would not be able to compete as multinationals or indeed growing and expanding Irish businesses without that skill set being here. These people make an extraordinary and positive contribution to Ireland's relationship with other parts of the world. In many ways they open doors to new business and new markets as well.

International protection is a very different form of inward migration. Some of the people who come here, we invite and facilitate through resettlement programmes but they are, in relative terms, small numbers. The majority of people who come here seeking international protection arrive in Ireland and we then need to pursue an asylum application process with them. In the case of Ukrainians coming to Ireland - and about 104,000 of them have done so over the last two years - we effectively treat them as EU citizens while they are here, with the exception of accommodation. This has been an extraordinary pressure point for the Government.

We hear criticisms from the other side of the House and it is the Opposition's job to be critical and constructive in that criticism where possible, and I respect that. However, when we look back on this period in a few years' time, Ireland will be seen to have done an extraordinary job in accommodating enormous numbers of people in a very short space of time. Many Irish homes and families have opened their doors to support people fleeing extraordinary suffering and conflict. We should not lose sight of that. Even though we are making adjustments to the financial support we give to Ukrainian families while they are here, for understandable and necessary reasons given the policy changes that have been made in other European countries as well, we need to continue to be as supportive and as generous as we can be until this war ends.

In respect of those who come here to seek international protection through airports or ports and through Northern Ireland and the UK, we need to tighten up our system. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is doing just that. We need to be generous and consistent with international law and our international obligations but we also need to differentiate between people who are genuinely fleeing conflict and economic migrants. The Government is consistently investing in the human resources we need and, where necessary, the policy change we need to ensure we can support people who need it and ensure that we can differentiate more quickly between those people and others who are coming to Ireland and claiming asylum but who are, in fact, economic migrants, and take appropriate action. That is exactly what the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is doing. It is also what she is doing with regard to named safe countries to allow us to fast-track appropriately the process in the case of those countries.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak. The figures the Minister, Deputy Coveney, gave in respect of work permits and all of that needs to be out there. I did not know that information until I heard it from him. Perhaps it is on some website but we need that positive information about what is happening as opposed to the mystery of not knowing what is going on and giving people an opportunity to use what is going on. I thank the Minister for that information.

As a Galway man, I want to condemn outright what happened at Ross Lake House Hotel in Oughterard. Nobody can condone the type of activity whereby a fine building is burned and destroyed. I worked to build that hotel in a former existence. To think it was burned to the ground is a sad day for Ireland and Galway. We must ask why people are reacting in such a way and doing this. One of the themes that is coming out of this discussion is the fact that there is a lack of transparent information. Local public representatives are not brought into the discussion about plans to place people in communities. Community groups are not engaged with prior to decisions being made so a plan can be worked out which the community can buy in to and make a success of. There is no reason to hold things in secret because all that does is to feed the myth that something is going on. I field numerous calls from people who hear that something is going to happen in a certain place. They want to know if the intention is to house Ukrainian refugees or asylum seekers. In some cases, it happens. I never get information, officially or unofficially, from anybody in government. Public representatives should have that information before anything happens so we can prepare with the local communities to deal with what might be coming.

People have other huge concerns. People in my parish have a school bus ticket but cannot get a bus to school because the bus is not there. This has been going on since last September. Consider a child who has a disability but cannot get a service in children's disability network team 7, CDNT 7, in Tuam. We look at why these things are happening. In Athenry, for instance, there was an oversubscription of 150 applications to get into the secondary schools in Athenry for next September. That is the type of pressure we are working in.

As the Minister said, we have capacity challenges, including in respect of the resources to run this country. There are also capacity challenges in housing, which is the elephant in the room. I say to the Government that we need to do things differently. People from across the political spectrum have been democratically elected to make sure that the people who are coming into our country to seek asylum, people who are running from war, are treated properly and that everything is done in an open and transparent way so that people in this country understand the benefit of having more people come into the country. We must consider how we get them into work, integrate them into society and fill rural schools and all of that. It is great, but there has been so much pressure and so much has come at the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his Department, that they do no have time to put a plan in place. We need a plan and a communication strategy, going forward.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Most people want to help and to do the right thing for people who are fleeing war and violence. They also want a system that is fair and sustainable. Most people want a compassionate approach from the Government but also want common sense. The Minister's system has so far been a common sense-free zone. That is the truth.

We have a Government whose policy has to date significantly damaged the goodwill of the people. The first mistake the Government made was to refuse to listen to the people. The Minister has got to start listening to people around the country. The Ministers, Deputies O'Gorman and McEntee, have in many ways ignored many communities around the country which wanted to have an input into the process that is happening in their own areas. Not talking to people has had the effect of creating a vacuum of information. That is an ideal location, a petri dish if you like, for rumours about the system to be created.

Government Ministers must remember who is employing them. They are employed by the people. They are the servants of the people. The fact that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has not met one community around the country on this issue is incredible. People want a fair asylum process that effectively and efficiently identifies and differentiates between those who need help and those who do not. The Government's policy to date has been extremely lax. Deportation orders are enforced at a rate of 15% and the rest are voluntary. When I ask parliamentary questions the Minister admits she has no way of confirming whether a person has left the country or not. That is an incredible situation. Many people are coming into the country without proper documentation. There were 3,500 in Dublin Airport alone last year. We need a penalty for such an individual who comes into the country. That must happen to deter people from coming into the country and damaging or losing their documents. Some 86% of the people who came in last year registered at the International Protection Office, IPO, instead of at the ports. I asked the Minister by way of a parliamentary question if she knows the routes they use to come into the country, she said she does not and they are not asked that question.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I did not.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It was in a written reply to a parliamentary question in the last month. It is an incredible situation.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Do not lie.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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At the heart of this problem is that we have a situation whereby there is no consideration of, or planning around, the Government's policy to find accommodation. If we are real, the Government's policy to find accommodation is lastminute.com. It is a Yellow Pack situation to find anybody who will give accommodation. What that means is there is no planning around the resources that are necessary, including doctors, dentists, schools, housing and transport. It was incredible that the Minister talked on the radio last Sunday about the €50 million of community dividends provided by the Government. It was announced in 2022, but the reply to a parliamentary question from the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, told us that only €2.9 million of that has been spent in a year. In June 2022, the Government promised 700 rapid-build homes, less than half of which have been built. The Government bought 20 buildings for accommodation for asylum seekers and the reply to a parliamentary question showed that only one has been put into use. The marshalling of resources for the communities that are accepting people coming into the country, and for those who are coming into the country themselves, has been a disaster. The provision of psychologists, doctors, nurses and people who need to give help to people coming into the country has been very poor. People are ringing my office to see if they can get baby formula for their children. These are people who are living in direct provision locations.

If the Government wants to fix this and gain the goodwill of the people, I ask it to first and foremost listen to the people in the communities of Ireland, make sure we have a fast, efficient and effective process to identify whether or not a person needs help and then make sure the resources are there so that communities are able to accept their new populations and to properly integrate those populations into those communities.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I agree with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment that Ireland has done an extraordinary job. The people have done an extraordinary job over recent months and years. Immigration can mean different things. It can mean people from Great Britain living and working here under the common travel area arrangements or people living and working here through EU freedom of movement.

People come from all around the world to work, study and reunite with family but in recent months, we have seen unprecedented numbers of fellow human beings fleeing war, persecution and other forms of hardship. Not everyone who comes here is entitled to asylum but the vast majority are fleeing hardship - even many who will ultimately be denied the right to stay. We must always have compassion and never vilify the individuals involved. We have seen the damage that can do in other countries.

Most of the public debate in recent months has really been about refugee accommodation policy or the lack of it. Key to this debate is being clear about what we are discussing. The war in Ukraine has meant that there are far higher numbers in State-funded accommodation. It meant the rapid expansion of what was a badly designed system. For years, Sinn Féin has called out the overreliance on the private sector. This reliance is at the heart of why we still have no real plan. It has been completely developer-led. Decisions made based on private interests rather than a national strategy. There is very little transparency, little engagement with local communities and indeed little respect for local communities with very genuine concerns. The Government has mishandled both policy and implementation. This is legitimate and valid criticism that cannot be dismissed. The way the Government has responded to that criticism is concerning. It conflates criticism of the refugee accommodation policy with criticism of all immigration. That shuts down the debate. The vast majority of people do not want to be associated with hatred and exclusion. They just see the Government’s current approach as completely unsustainable and unworkable with tourism beds being taken out of local communities, planned nursing homes not going ahead and student accommodation being repurposed. Across the board, there is a lack of services and resources in places for people and there is no plan and no communication. Some individuals are making huge amounts from the system off the backs of the most vulnerable people coming to this country and people who are already in our communities while the local communities are being left without the supports they badly need.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors might have only just woken up to this but resources have been sucked out of towns and villages for years. There are fewer Garda stations, GPs and dentists, and pressure is building on all services. A housing emergency has deepened. The Government has shown that it can take an emergency response to a crisis. We witnessed the response to Covid and there has rightly been an emergency response to Ukraine but the Government has refused to declare a housing emergency. People feel that the Government is out of touch with the pressures they face in their everyday lives. This has resulted in vulnerable people being pitted against each other. The blame for the housing crisis in this country lies firmly with the Government.

Sinn Féin is determined to avoid the tension and resentment that can build when Government failures are stacked on Government failures. Why do we not now have a national strategy? Sinn Féin has been calling for a national strategy for months. Why can we not create temporary accommodation centres avoiding heaping any further pressure on our private rental sector? We need a compassionate and common-sense approach and key to this a national strategy that is State-led. The hotel beds that were in use should be returned to local communities. We understand how important a hotel can be to a local economy. Areas must be given the resources and supports they need. There is an ad hoc approach here. Communities want to do this right, particularly the community development organisations such as family resource centres. I ask the Government to do one practical thing, namely, to put integration officers in there. The money is not getting to the places it is supposed to reach. For example, 100 refugees came to Belleek, County Mayo a number of months ago and people welcomed them. They have been looking for something as simple as a small astroturf pitch so that the children in the community and the youngsters who are coming into the community can integrate but there is block after block. There is a breakdown in the system. Things can be done right here and done in a way such that community groups are enabled to do what they do best. They know their communities, they know what is needed in them and they know the people in them. Mayo Intercultural Action has been working for years in the county and welcomed refugees and people from all cultures who then integrated properly. There is a way we can do this and we need to do it now.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this issue. It is fair to say that there has been a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation. The reality is that of all the people who come to the country, people seeking international protection make up a very small number. For example, we give out between 30,000 and 39,000 work permits depending on the year to people outside the EU. Of course, if they did not come here and do the necessary work they are doing, the economy and services in this country would not function. Because we are in the EU, there is free travel here from anybody who is legally resident in the EU. We have a system that is open but subject to checks.

Regarding people coming here seeking international protection, it is fair to say that checks are carried out when they come here unlike the other groups I mentioned, particularly people coming from the EU and Ukraine. My understanding is that there are no checks on people coming from Ukraine. There are checks on people coming here seeking international protection and I understand that there are records and that fingerprints are taken and shared with Eurodac so it is slightly disingenuous to say there are no checks.

Second, what people coming here looking for refugee status or even economic migrants coming here, who are not eligible for refugee status, look for is citizenship. Achieving citizenship could take someone between five, six and nine years and if any infraction of the law of any consequence will disqualify that person from making an application for citizenship. People coming here tend, therefore, to be very careful.

We have pressure on our hospitals and on housing and we should deal with that urgently. Like most TDs, I spend a considerable part of my time pressing these matters as I believe they are hugely important. However, I cannot stand here and say that it is acceptable that people, be they native to this country or people who came in during the past week, are forced to sleep on the streets and are not entitled to a roof over their head. Some people think, "Well, they're only men". As a man, I can guarantee the House that men feel the cold too. I shudder at the thought of having to sleep out in weather like the weather we have at the moment because it is either rainy, windy or freezing cold.

We need a debate. Certain aspects of the system are very frustrating. I was delighted that the Minister said yesterday that the Government was going to speed up the system because, traditionally, the system has been very slow.

Another issue I find frustrating is the fact that I cannot get answers. People come to me, particularly regarding accommodation for Ukrainians, and tell me that they have spare capacity. When I table parliamentary questions, they are referred on and I do not get the required information but get very vague answers about what the occupancy rate is at this time.

I know of one place that is constantly complaining it has empty beds. I have heard no complaint about the place, and I wonder how this could be when we hear all of the time that there is a shortage of accommodation.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know where to start. I have lived beside a direct provision centre in my home parish for the best part of 23 years. We have always been welcoming to migrants from all over the world, and who have settled well and integrated into our community. I would like to bring some balance to the debate. I have been listening upstairs, and listening to the latest speech from the Sinn Féin representative opposite. A lot of it is about peddling blame, and I get that is the job of Opposition. I get that it has to call the Government to account. However, I bring the Deputy's attention to an incident in Cork last week, in St. Dominic's Centre in Mayfield, where a protest was mounted by, if I am honest, a couple of hundred people. The following day, one of the local Sinn Féin representatives went on radio to castigate the Government for its lack of information, consultation and the usual. I agree with him on that. What I did not agree with was the complete lack of criticism for the four busloads of people bussed from outside the area to protest. I do not agree that there was no criticism of the fact this facility was being earmarked for IPAS residents. In fact, it was being earmarked for Ukrainian families. Again, there was no criticism of the fact that it was IPAS more than anything. We need to be fair on this, and speak out on it as public representatives. When people arrive to our shores, whether through an airport, a port, or through Belfast, they have certain legal entitlements and are entitled to due process. If anyone wants to read about the rights of these people I advise them to consult the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UNHCR and various EU legislation and the conventions contained within that. We have obligations. When people arrive they are entitled to due process. Some are returned to their countries of origin. Some are allowed to stay. Some are allowed work and some integrate over time. There is very little of that happening in public discourse, and that is disappointing.

One thing I do agree with people in the Opposition ranks is about is the lack of information. I will give one example from the Mayfield situation last week. I could not get an answer from the Department about that facility for approximately eight days. I tried numerous sources. I found out afterwards when it was too late, that it was being assessed for Ukrainian families and not IPAS as was being rumoured. As I said it took eight days and at that point the barricades had been mounted and opposition to the proposal had happened. I subsequently found out that all that had happened was the owner of that property went on to a portal and registered that he would like his property assessed for some type of accommodation. Nothing else happened. It was left sitting there for six months in the cloud or on a portal, and very little physical intervention happened. Nobody came to inspect the site or anything like that. The rumour mill started ramping up, and people were bussed in - four busloads were brought in that evening. That was most unwelcome. I would like to think this debate will be constructive. We need to be straight with people, communicate with people and be upfront with what additional measures we are taking and how we will integrate these people into communities. As I said, I have lived beside a direct provision centre for the best part of 20 years and people there have always integrated well into the community. I only met with them three weeks before Christmas and 70% of them are working. That is often lost on people.

I also mention one or two other issues, which go back to that direct provision centre I live near. There is a mix of people who have status and can stay in the country, and a number of people who are due to be processed. What I found most uncomfortable, and I have spoken to some Ministers about this, is that some of those people and families were due to move to other parts of the country. They will leave Cork where, as I have said, 70% of them are working, some are attending third level, some had children in a local ASD class and there are 17 kids in a local school, which would lose a teacher if those families were moved. All of those things are going on in these settings. What I found most inhumane was that somebody from the direct provision centre - in that case the manager - could give somebody a letter and tell them they were moving in five days' time. That is a person in a college course or whose child is attending a school, and with five days' notice they can be expected to move, in this case, from Cork to County Westmeath. There is no guarantee of an ASD class for a special needs child, no guarantee of a job and no guarantee that the nursing degree the person is undertaking in University College Cork, UCC, can be transferred up the country. We need a system that is more humane and responsive to the needs of these people who are coming to be processed.

Information is key in this. I go back again to the situation in Mayfield. That arose because we did not provide information. I will hint at one last thing. There is a student accommodation block in Cork city at the moment. A story in the Irish Examiner has been running for two or three days over the past few weeks about the Government acquiring a €57 million building, which currently has students. As far as I know, just an interest has been registered. Nothing has been done about the feasibility of that, or of acquiring the building. If we plug the deficits in information, I think an awful lot of the hostility and anxiety people experience can be overcome.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this, because amidst the discussion happening nationally we need to remember the humanity involved. We need to remember that many people in need of asylum are coming from situations we cannot imagine. Migration has an important role to play in this country, but this debate is not about migration. It is about the co-ordination of services to support those fleeing war and persecution and, importantly, services to support the communities these people are to become part of. Our history has informed our attitude of compassion to those who are in need of refuge. I am proud to stand here to say that. I am proud to say we have communities that have welcomed with open arms people going through the international protection process, and people who are beneficiaries of temporary protection. Yet, we are now seeing that this is being negatively impacted by the lack of coherent planning on the part of the Government, which has failed to prepare adequately and is not listening to local communities. Communities have rightly raised the issues of relating to an already stretched system. Lack of housing, schoolteachers and access to GPs are some of the issues raised with me. These issues are the result of bad policies pursued by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for decades. When communities express concerns at the lack of services within their area, they are calling on the Government to fill the gap in services. Engagement is lacking, either with local representatives or the communities themselves. This is precisely because lack of preparation means the Government jumps at the chance to take any accommodation that becomes available to it, and the ability of the area to cater for the additional demand on services comes second.

In this regard, I will touch on comments made by the Minister at the beginning of this debate. The Minister said the Department carefully appraises each property before it continues. This is not the case in Cashel, where the location being considered is being used as a location for emergency homeless accommodation. The Department claims not to have been aware of this. Sometimes you just do not know what to believe. Was the Department unprepared and unaware, or did it believe it could plough forward? Who knows? The line of communication from the Department is virtually non-existent, especially at a time when clarity is needed. We have a duty to process asylum applications fairly and efficiently, and we have a duty to cater for those who are genuinely seeking protection. This Government also has a duty to support and provide for communities.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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Immigration is causing a breakdown in social cohesion in Irish society and it is happening on the Minister's watch. In the view of the public, and in the experience of service providers in local communities, there is simply no co-ordination of services and no proper communication, as has been highlighted again and again. The Government is treating communities like fools and they have lost trust in it. There is no meaningful engagement with local communities and no additional support to schools or local health clinics. I was contacted by a number of school principals last week, who feel genuinely overwhelmed by the lack of supports in their schools. There is no additional support for trauma therapy, SNAs or speech and language supports. There is absolutely nothing and teachers and principals are feeling overwhelmed. Because of the Government's failure to sit down and talk with communities about their concerns and worries, they do not believe what the Government is saying.

They do not believe what they hear from the Government, Dublin City Council and local authorities around the country and why would they? The international protection system has never worked and we have been saying this for years. The Government approach has been shambolic from the start. Decisions have taken way too long. We need an efficient, compassionate and enforced immigration system just like Canada or Australia. We need to have effective control over our borders. People are frustrated when they hear stories of people arriving on flights with no passports. They have no faith in the Government's process for dealing with these cases. People are extremely frustrated because there is a housing crisis. They recognise the role of migrant workers every time they visit a hospital or when they have a dental appointment. They understand the need to have an effective immigration system but they do not see one in place. All they see is billions of euro being spent on hotels and filling the pockets of profiteers, some of whom are Members of this House.

On top of this, our local communities are being sucked dry by the cost of housing, rent, the worsening health system, mortgages, childcare and the cost of living; it just does not add up. The longer the Government parties are in office, the worse it is for communities in Dublin's inner city, the worse it gets for communities such as Ringsend, Pearse Street, City Quay, Kevin Street and all the inner-city communities. The immigration system is broken and vulnerable communities have to pick up the pieces. The responsibility is no one else's but Government's.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I welcome this debate even after ten or 11 months of seeking a debate. It is not really a debate because it is just statements with no questions and no answers. I am delighted that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has finally arrived in the Chamber for this debate. There has been talk about misinformation and disinformation. None of the Ministers speaking today had scripts. I hope the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has. They were asked for them. We cannot fact-check them. One Minister told us there were 103,000 Ukrainians while the Minister of State, Deputy O'Brien, who can correct this,said there were 75,000 Ukrainians here. Which is right? They talk about misinformation. They have made a complete hames of this. The Minister, Deputy Harris, spoke about health, education and everything else. They are not there for our own people, never mind for the numbers the Government wants to bring in.

The response to a parliamentary question to the Minister for Justice provided to me showed that, in 2018, there were 895 undocumented arrivals. This increased to 1,570 in 2019. Incidentally, when Deputy Ring was in Cabinet, he said we needed a debate urgently. The Government has ignored this rolling along. The number of undocumented arrivals increased to 2,082 in 2021 before reaching 4,968 in 2022 and ever onwards. The reply to the parliamentary question only dealt with those coming through Dublin Airport, not the ports, Belfast or anywhere else. It is farcical that the Minister cannot give us those figures. The Garda is supposed to be monitoring the ports with another agency monitoring Dublin Airport. The Government is talking about increasing the fines on airlines to stop people coming in. Nobody in Ireland can go on a plane anywhere without proper documentation and rightly so.

Ar an gcéad dul síos, I want to say I welcome migrants and I deal with them every day of the week. I assist companies through different Departments to try to get work visas and work permits. They play a very important part in this country and they are very welcome. Misinformation has been spread and peddled here about ordinary decent people in Roscrea. I lay the blame on the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, who decided to force those children through. They did not ask for a mediator or ask for a public representative to mediate. It was just a show of strength. They blackguarded ordinary people. There was not a far-right person in that town. Deputy Nolan, who is behind me, attended there also on another day. Ordinary people have been denigrated by people in this House and elsewhere.

I will not listen to the likes of Deputy Cairns and Deputies from the Labour Party and others. It is funny that PBP Deputies did not even come in for the debate today, or the so-called debate. It is a phoney argument. They may think that demonising people as far-right will solve the problem, but it will not. It has been ham-fisted and it has been left to the two Ministers to the left of the Minister for Justice, Deputies O'Gorman and Joe O'Brien. I thank them for engaging with me; a very helpful engagement. However, they have fled to the hills and are giving no answers. There is misinformation today with different figures being provided. With all the different Ministers who came in, none of them had a script. Are they afraid we might read it tomorrow and remind them of what they said? I cannot understand that. Timber is not that scarce that they would not have trees cut down to give us a script.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The script is there-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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This situation is delicate and emotive and it needs to be dealt with. The people out there are yearning for information and are not getting it. I want the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to tell me how many people from his Department are on the public engagement team. I believe it is very few. When will they have joined-up thinking and put services in place? I demand that he meets the people in Roscrea. He will not find a far-right person there. These are decent people who have been demonised and blackguarded. Imagine taking away their hotel, the only social outlet they had left in the town. That town has already taken in 80% of the IPAS people in County Tipperary. Hundreds of people are working in that town in factories and everything else. They have all integrated and will continue to do so. This is no way to deal with people. I ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to meet a deputation of the good people of Roscrea.

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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I represent people on the Tipperary-Offaly border who work in the town of Roscrea. They are decent people who pay their taxes. The way they were treated and demonised in the national media was shameful. Not one bad person was up there that day. Everything was handled wrong. It was done to create the image that the people and the community were wrong and I condemn that. What was done to those people was very wrong. Those communities are concerned. Communities are entitled to ask questions. The mishandling of that incident was shocking but, of course, the RTÉ camera was there to capture it all and so it was choreographed to the to the greatest detail. I condemn that and call it out because people see it for what it was and it certainly backfired.

I want to also raise my serious concerns over the very unsustainable level of immigration in this country. I was dumbfounded by the gullible, naïve and reckless statements we heard from some of the hard-left TDs. They seem to think that there are no limits on what we can do. Of course, there are limits on what we can do as a country. We are only one small island and there is only so much we can do. It is wrong to continue to bring people in in droves and let them sleep on hotel floors. In June 2022, I was lectured to in this Chamber when as I expressed my concern to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Brien. Not alone do we have them on hotel floors, now we have them on streets and in tents because it has reached such a chaotic level.

What is happening is unfair. There is only so much we can do. It is ridiculous for the hard-left TDs to think it is perfectly fine to throw taxpayers' money around like confetti and act in such a reckless fashion by bringing in everybody from across the world wherever they might come from. We are not here for the purpose of letting asylum tourists in here. We are not here for that reason and I condemn that.

Why is the fingerprinting not being checked against a criminal database? I am concerned it is being checked against two databases that are not criminal databases. I am also concerned about our tourism industry being destroyed and the hotel beds gone out of the system. I have serious concerns and I will continue to raise them.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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This is a very important debate about co-ordination of services. I am concerned over how the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and Fianna Fáil Deputies are trying to confuse the debate by talking about immigrants who come here working. I have respect for all those people who come here working - as much as the Minister, Deputy Coveney, or anybody else. I have employed people from every part of the world at different times. Since being elected to Kerry County Council more than 20 years ago, I have helped and worked with the Bangladeshi community in Killarney and will continue to work with them and all the other communities. I took them to Belfast to get their eyesight restored and I would do it for all those people who have been here for many years.

However, we have to recognise that there is a place called "Stop". When you overflood and concentrate a lot of people in one area, a community will be upset. A few months ago, before people came to the Harmony Inn on the Muckross Road in Killarney, I asked the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman to come down and meet with a deputation from a meeting that took place in the East Avenue Hotel attended by more than 350 people who had concerns. When we talk about the Harmony Inn, I can say it was anything but a place in harmony because I am being told day after day that Garda cars are outside of it.

When people from all over the world are put into 22 rooms, you will have conflict. We have a serious lack of services. I am sorry. I needed a lot more time.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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I have worked with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to help people fleeing war - women and children - into our areas, communities and schools. They now work in our areas. I commend everything that has been done and the communities that welcomed them into their houses. They are all integrated into our area. They play sports and are involved in community games. What has been done is brilliant but the Government wanted to bring 251 people into an old school in Limerick. It was going to bring them into 19 classrooms and put 13 people in each room. This was not a boarding school. People in Limerick stood up, spoke nicely, asked questions and said it was inhumane. Would anyone here put 13 children, if they had 13 children, into one room? No. Why? Because they would fight. The Government wants to put 13 men, women and children into a room together without proper facilities. That is inhumane. That is what people are asking about. It is not that they are far right or far left. They are asking questions for the safety of people we are looking after in this country. That is all we are asking. Would the Minister for Justice do it to her own children? She has children. Would she ask 13 children to move into one room? She would not. The Government does not have the proper accommodation to deal with people. We ask it to put a cap on it until we can look after people like the Irish people do. They put people into their houses and help them in every way they can. People are asking the questions for humanitarian reasons.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on immigration. While I recognise it can often cause concerns, particularly around housing and services, it is important we understand the overwhelming benefits inward migration brings. With an ageing population and an economy at almost full employment, we need overseas workers to fill labour shortages and continue to drive our economy. Some 20% of those of working age were born outside of Ireland. These workers who come from overseas are essential to the functioning of our society. Without them we would not have bus drivers, nurses, doctors or care workers and our shops would not have staff. The tech sector, which is so reliant on specialist skills, would shrink, and this would lead to our economy contracting and our tax receipts being decimated. In turn, public spending would have to be slashed and unemployment would rise. To avoid this, Ireland needs migrants.

In recent months, immigration has risen high on the political agenda. Thankfully, in this country there has never been a significant far-right element. As the country becomes more diverse, it is important this sentiment does not gain a foothold because when immigration becomes high on the political agenda, there is a real risk of a breakdown in social cohesion. This does not prevent us debating and discussing issues around immigration. Indeed, it is imperative we in this House make every effort to address people's concerns around challenges such as housing and services. We also must make the case for immigration clear to the Irish people. We know the vast majority of people who come to Ireland every year come to work or study. A small number arrive because they need our help and as a nation we have shown great compassion in our response to some of the most vulnerable people in the world. We have provided temporary protection to over 100,000 people fleeing Ukraine. These people are now part of communities across the country.

The number of people coming to Ireland seeking international protection has increased from a low base in recent years. Ireland is not alone in seeing these rises. The increase is, unfortunately, an inevitable result of the rise in global conflict, persecution and human rights violations. It is important to put the numbers coming here seeking protection into context. Until recently, Ireland was well below the EU average when it came to the number of international protection applicants. It was only in 2022 and 2023 that numbers stabilised around the EU average. My Department has been working hard to manage the increase in international protection numbers in a fair and efficient way, while ensuring the integrity of the process is maintained at all times. We have implemented a number of successful measures that are improving efficiencies and throughput and having a significant impact on the numbers being processed. Last year, the International Protection Office increased the number of monthly determinations to over 1,000 in November 2023 and plans to deliver at least 14,000 decisions in 2024. The introduction in November 2022 of an accelerated procedure for international protection applicants from designated safe countries of origin has successfully reduced processing times. These applicants now typically receive a first-instance decision in ten weeks, a significant reduction from a norm of 22 to 26 months early last year.

All of these reforms have the purpose of giving status to those in need of protection to rebuild their lives in Ireland, while ensuring faster decision-making in respect of those who do not meet the criteria. The Department will continue to support those who need our assistance, while ensuring the integrity of Ireland's rules-based immigration system is maintained. We will also keep developing efficient and effective migration pathways so the door remains open and the welcome is warm for all essential overseas workers who come to Ireland. They are key to helping our communities and economy thrive into the future.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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Now we come to the Independent Group. Deputies Pringle and Connolly are sharing time.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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It is important to acknowledge the dire circumstances many of those seeking protection in Ireland have experienced, both in their home countries and on their journeys here. We need to remember these are people seeking protection and safety. They have come to our country for help because it is too difficult or dangerous to stay in their own for many reasons, such as violence, war or extreme poverty. Many are forced to leave because of their sexual orientation or gender, or because of the consequences of climate change and other natural disasters.

In discussing this issue and the issue of services, we often forget the people, people who have felt so unsafe they have had to leave their homes and often their families, friends, work and communities in search of protection. In an issue dominated by talk of the importance of community, we somehow fail to recognise how hard it must be to leave your community, to have no community, to feel isolated and alone and to take a chance, often risking your own life and leaving everything in the hope of getting something better. These people and their experiences often get lost in the numbers and disagreements over services.

There is no doubt the issue of lack of services, particularly in rural communities, is serious and needs to be addressed urgently. Sadly, this has been an issue for many years, long before people seeking protection came to these communities. Should they leave tomorrow, the issue would remain. All of us from rural Ireland know this well. We have been forgotten by the Government for years and nothing has changed, except now we are being encouraged to punch down rather than up by some with malicious and harmful intent who are attempting to exploit the public's concerns and use them to stoke hatred. They do this under the guise of Irishness and nationalism, yet the ideas they spread could not be more anti-Irish. Emigration has been a massive part of Irish history and identity, and to ignore this aspect of ourselves is to ignore what it means to be Irish. Emigration defined Irish identity 200 years ago and has continued to define us ever since.

Immigrants to our country are just looking for the opportunity for a better quality of life. We have never been denied this anywhere we went, so why should we deny anyone else this opportunity? The opportunity is not one-sided. Many of our services are operating in crisis mode, particularly the healthcare and housing sectors. As well as this, we face many skills shortages, with employers unable to fill key positions. We need more people to fill this gap and revitalise our rural areas. This is our opportunity to do so and all it requires is forward thinking from Government.

Data from the Central Statistics Office issued at the end of last year showed immigrants have played a vital role in our recent economic success, filling just over half of the 100,000 additional jobs created in the past year. More than 64,000 people left Ireland in the year to April 2023, a 14% increase on the previous year. More than half were aged between 25 and 44. This is a significant part of our workforce and there is no doubt many left because of difficulties getting housing.

That workforce still needs to be replaced, however, and the Government now has the opportunity to fill that gap, while at the same time giving many people the opportunity of making a better life for themselves. We need to realise that division and tensions within our communities are not the way forward and will not address the lack of vital services. We need to realise that those sparking these divisions and spreading misinformation do not care about communities they seek to divide. Many are not even from those communities themselves.

The sad reality is that the State plays a role in this division, subtly at times and more obviously at other times. Culture wars stop communities organising around things that actually matter to them, such as housing, employment and even the climate crisis which forces much of the migration in the first place and will only continue to raise immigration numbers. It is predicted there could be 1.2 billion climate refugees by 2050, with people being forced to flee due to desertification, rising sea levels and a lack of clean drinking water.

As long as we are pointing the finger at vulnerable people, we are not organising around the things that matter and pointing the finger towards those who are actually at fault. We have a Government that is operating on huge surpluses. If there is not expenditure in communities, it is not because of asylum seekers but because of lack of Government action.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on this matter. Background is always very helpful. When we talk about droves of people coming into the country, that is not accurate. We have a total of just under 26,000 people in direct provision. I hope I have a chance to come back to the inhuman, unacceptable direct provision we were supposed to finish a long time ago. Of those 26,000 people, a shocking number have been granted refugee status and have no place to go. More than 5,000 people with refugee status cannot leave direct provision. If we cannot cope with 26,000 people under our international obligations, there is something seriously wrong, and that is the case.

We set up a direct provision centre as a temporary measure back in 2000. I will return to the issue of Ukrainians who are not here as asylum seekers but are here under a temporary protection system. That in itself - distinguishing between different types of asylum seekers - is unacceptable. I deplore the language that is being used with regard to droves coming in, vetting and young men being dangerous. I share the concerns with regard to the problems experienced by communities because hotels are being taken and there are not enough services. Turning on vulnerable people, and asylum seekers are the most vulnerable people who are fleeing persecution and violations of human rights to seek asylum in our country, and equating asylum with dangerous people is most unacceptable. I ask those who are doing that to stop and to join with us in fighting and pressurising the Government to provide services for rural areas and stop taking over hotels and depriving communities of their use but not in the manner that it is being done now.

Since 2018, there have been at least 12 suspected arson attacks, which is most unacceptable, one of which occurred on New Year's Eve. A protest also occurred in Galway before Christmas at which horrible language was used to the effect that the inn is full. None of that is acceptable to me.

Let us look at the background against which someone comes here seeking asylum. The figures show that 28,892 people have died in the Mediterranean Sea. Last year alone, 3,041 people went missing in the Mediterranean. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, has reported that 110 million people have been displaced worldwide, of whom 43.3 million are children. The figures are just astronomical and they are going to get worse because we live in a world that looks at war as a way of solving problems when it creates problems. That is not to mention climate change.

Direct provision started in 1999 and 2000. We have had any number of reports telling us to stop direct provision as the system is not fit for purpose. It isolates people and leaves the way open for hate speech. The McMahon report was published in 2015. I do not know how many of its recommendations were ever implemented. Dr. McMahon did his best. Dr. Catherine Day's report was published in October 2020 and was followed by a White Paper on ending direct provision. Fair play to the Minister on that but it has not happened. That commitment was made well before the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, but nothing happened. We were to stop the obscene profits being made on the private provision of accommodation for vulnerable people. We did not do that. The Government failed to do what it said it would do, namely, stop direct provision, build not-for-profit centres and establish in parallel a system that would very swiftly deal with those seeking asylum. We did not do that either.

What we did do was open the doors to people fleeing from the illegal war in Ukraine but we created a two-tier system that is simply unacceptable. I agree with Deputy Mattie McGrath on one point. There was no written speech from the senior Minister, who spoke first, setting out the facts and figures or a time by which direct provision will be finished. We could work with him but none of that has been done today. People are speaking off the top of their heads. Then, we have the Afghan admission programme. Very few people have been taken from Afghanistan despite the horrors we have seen.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It was 600.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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There were 500 or 600 maximum and I understand applications are now closed.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It is a significant number.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I would love to talk to the Minister about this but I only have a few minutes remaining. I appreciate his work but, unfortunately, he has not ended direct provision. This Government has presided over mixed messages with regard to our approach to asylum seekers in every possible way, creating a two-tier system and pitting communities against each other. It is all inconsistent.

Not too far from this august establishment, there is a hotel that has been empty for five, six or seven years. I stayed there when I was first elected to the House. There is no explanation as to why that and other premises have never been used. I understand the Minister is under pressure but there is complete inconsistency.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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It is just over a year since I first condemned in this House the Minister's proposal to convert a light industrial building in Shannon into emergency accommodation for IPAS. I gave my reasons then, and consistently since, for opposing the proposal. I liaised with the Department on behalf of Shannon Chamber to meet the Minister about this. My team followed up with 15 emails and made 22 telephone calls that went ignored by the Department until a meeting was eventually promised in late August. Then, last week when seeking an update, we were told that the Department had scrapped the plan. It is a full year later, with God knows how much money wasted on a plan that I, constituency colleagues and the local community told the Minister would not work. Instead, however, it was insisted that you guys knew better and now you have been proven wrong.

Not only that but in that full year in which this plan was being worked on, not one extra doctor, public health nurse, garda or dentist was planned for my constituency. The engagement with public representatives has been woefully inadequate. The engagement with communities has been non-existent. The Minister's community engagement team was not even set up until nearly two years into the current crisis. The Government and its predecessors have stripped my constituency of essential public services and have given not one flute about us. Then, without advance notice, it inflated our population in a way that we could not sustainably plan for. Not only that but the Government pushed the already stretched resources in many rural communities to breaking point and beyond. Consider the fact that County Clare is part of the only region with a model 4 hospital - a teaching hospital nonetheless - that is not supported with a model 3 hospital.

The information vacuum was created by this Government and the rise of whatever label you choose which the Minister and his colleagues bemoan in this House was created in that vacuum. The Minister and the Taoiseach allowed this to happen. From the outside looking in, it looks like the Government is in the space of reactionary politics from which nobody benefits. What we have needed, however, is politics that responds. This is not the fault of anybody who came to this country looking for protection. It is not the fault of rural people who are at breaking point. It is the fault of this Government and its consistent attack on rural communities in starving us of essential services.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Deputy.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I will conclude with this question. How can one effectively respond if one is not listening?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I appreciate having a further opportunity to speak in the House on migration, specifically this evening on the issue of international protection. Before speaking to the specifics of the debate, it is important to set out the context. As we are living it, and have lived it over the past three years, it is easy to lose sight of how unprecedented these circumstances have been. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have seen the largest movement of people across the European Continent since the Second World War.

That has necessitated the largest humanitarian response across the European Union since its foundation. Ireland's part in that has been to play host to approximately 100,000 Ukrainians who have fled here.

At the same time as Ireland and Europe are responding to that crisis, we are, as a continent, seeing a significant increase in the number of international protection applicants, driven by wars and conflicts across north Africa and the Middle East. All of this has generated a huge effort and response by the Irish public. More than 16,000 people from Ukraine are staying in homes of people offered to them by Irish people through the offer a home scheme and the Irish Red Cross scheme. In cities and towns across the country community groups have been established to support the integration of people who have fled here from Ukraine and other countries.

I recognise that there is concern about the international protection system as it stands, the procedures and processes in place for international protection applicants, the means of accommodating those who flee here and what this will mean for those who come here. The unprecedented scale of the challenge the State has faced in the last two years has exacerbated the flaws in a model the State has relied upon and was already in need of reform to meet the needs of 21st century migration, even before the war in Ukraine. Despite this, reforms have been pursued and further reforms will be outlined in the coming weeks.

This evening, I will speak to the facts around international protection, the reforms that are under way and my intentions with regard to accommodation. International protection means fairly and humanely examining a claim for asylum, sheltering and supporting people while that claim is assessed and giving the people the right to stay here in safety where that is needed. Where it is found that they do not have a legal basis for their claim, those individuals will not be allowed to stay in the State.

In 2023, there were about 13,200 applications for international protection. Until recently, Ireland was well below the EU average when it came to the number of people coming here seeking international protection. We have seen a big increase in numbers in 2022 and 2023 but that still brings us in line with the European averageper capitaof people seeking international protection. Where people claim international protection, they must do so at the International Protection Office. Each person that enters the international protection process is fingerprinted and photographed. These fingerprints are checked against Eurodac, an EU immigration database which stores the fingerprints of asylum applicants and those who have crossed borders illegally. Character and conduct checks are also carried out with An Garda Síochána at the point that consideration is being given to someone actually receiving refugee status or permission to remain in the State. While a person’s application is being assessed, he or she is provided with accommodation by the State alongside a basic payment of €38.80 per week. People are now entitled to work after six months in the process.

These are the bare-bone facts about what happens when someone is in the process. Right now, there are two major challenges in the international protection process. First, for decades, it took too long for someone to get a decision on whether he or she would receive international protection. That is why the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, has provided significant additional resources for the IPO to speed up the time in which international protection applications are decided on. Staff numbers have been doubled and in 2024, €34 million was provided to continue to expand the resources in the IPO. As a result of this effort, the number of decisions being taken has tripled and applications from safe countries are now being processed in under three months.

Following this significant investment in staff and the re-engineering of the processes and new technology, the IPO has almost doubled the number of decisions made in 2023 over the 2022 figures. The IPO increased the number of monthly determinations to over 1,000 per month in November of last year compared with 281 the previous November. By ensuring people have their applications decided more quickly, we will reduce the time they are in State-owned accommodation and that will in turn reduce the quantity of State-owned accommodation that we need.

The second major challenge is the accommodation itself. As every Deputy recognised, the State is too reliant on private providers. Officials in my Department are working intensively to source accommodation from the private sector. Contrary to what has been rumoured, we do not confiscate or CPO buildings. We are offered buildings by private providers and we take them because we need them. This is a system that was designed for a different era, one when we were facing much lower numbers of arrivals. It was designed to be temporary 20 years ago and we recognise there is a need for substantial reform.

While plans were set out in the White Paper in early 2021 for how we would make this reform, the need to immediately respond to Ukrainians when they arrived here from February 2022 onwards meant I had to reallocate staff whole-scale in my Department to meet their immediate needs. We have now moved away from that emergency response to Ukraine and it is clear that our priority has to be reform of the international protection system in terms of accommodation. I am not comfortable when we have to contract the last operating hotel in a town or village to ensure that women and children do not go homeless. I am not comfortable with the situation that we are not in a position to accommodate 700 individuals.

We need to have a system where the State holds the reins on a fair accommodation system, and on where that accommodation is located and its standards. Without that approach, we cannot put in place the supports for those who arrive here and we will not be able to spend the time we need to engage with communities and will continue to rely on factors outside our control. Providing an accommodation model with a central State-owned element will also allow us to ensure that the scale of accommodation provided is commensurate with the area in which it is located.

Fundamental reform of this system is long overdue. I am currently engaging with colleagues across the Government on proposals on a future accommodation strategy. I will bring this to the Cabinet and publish it in the coming weeks. I urge Deputies across the House to work with us on this because whatever their view on it is, a central element of any state is that it should be in a position to support those who arrive in it seeking safety. By providing a central State-owned element to accommodation, alongside the work the Minister for Justice is doing, we will achieve that.

All of us in this Chamber have a choice. Do we want to bring Ireland down a divisive and rancorous path which puts forward false narratives about migrants and refugees or do we take our responsibilities as elected representatives seriously? Do we engage and explain but convey only facts and demonstrate that we can put in place a system that processes applicants swiftly and accommodates people in suitable accommodation, one that represents this country and our long history of emigration? We have seen what happens in other countries when paranoia and inaccurate statements about migration are promoted. We see where that leads and I do not think that is somewhere we want to see our politics lead to here.

I thank Deputies for their ongoing engagement and support. The issue of engagement has been raised. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked about our community engagement. We have five civil servants in our community engagement team and two former public servants who work to support them. That team, in the last week, has had multiple meetings with community groups and representatives around the country. It has given detailed briefings on where we are opening new accommodation and has responded to countless rumours where people have named random buildings and asked whether they will be used. That is a huge job because there are people out there who are deliberately conveying misinformation. That gets out there and we need to respond. Our team responds in the best way it can by providing accurate information on whether the Department is looking at a particular building. We will continue to work to strengthen that response. Many Deputies come to me quietly and recognise that they have received a call from the community engagement team that allowed them to provide important, accurate information to their constituents on proposals for accommodation in their area.