Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I also echo the sentiments of other speakers and welcome the result at the weekend. There should be calm reflection, with all Senators thinking about where we go from here. Personally, I would have felt a little calmer and more inclined to reflect if there was not such a light schedule of business this week. I have made the point in the past that there has been a deliberate dumbing down of the business this House has conduced in the past few weeks in order to show us as inefficient and ineffective. I hope there will be no petulance in Government circles because of the outcome of the referendum. This House should have a full schedule of business every week from now on.

I welcome the report that there is, at last, light at the end of the tunnel for the residents of Priory Hall. It is important to state it has taken far too long for this outcome to be achieved - it is practically two years to the day when Priory Hall was evacuated. I ask that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, be invited to the Chamber to indicate how similar scenarios which I believe will arise will be dealt with. A protocol must be put in place in that regard.

The most pressing item I would like to bring to the Leader's attention is the report on the 4,600 asylum seekers living in direct provision accommodation, of which almost 1,000 are children. Inspection reports published today by The Irish Times indicate that these families are living in the most appalling conditions. The issue has been raised in this House on a number of occasions by many Members, but these official inspection reports bring into the open what we all know to be true, that some of these shelters are no more than protection against the rain, as opposed to homes in which people can live. It is outrageous to think the State is paying the guts of €70 million per year for what is a national disgrace that is almost comparable to the Magdalen laundries. As a consequence, I ask that the Minister for Justice and Equality be invited to come to this Chamber as a matter of urgency to set out how he can justify the experiences of asylum seekers.