Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I found the introduction a little demoralising in some ways. It summed up for me the point made by Deputy O'Brien earlier to the effect that we get nice statements and lofty aspirations but the reality on the ground is rather different. We have heard a great deal from the Government about the thousands we are taking in, how the numbers are far beyond any commitments given and so on. The reality is, as the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, said last month, 486 people have been resettled in Ireland, 69 of whom came from Greece while none has come from Italy. The figure includes one unaccompanied minor. This is despite the Minister's public commitment that this would be a priority area.

I hate talking about numbers because we are talking about human beings, each of whom has to endure a horrendous journey to get to these outposts of Europe. They bring the legacy of a life almost annihilated. It is not even clear to me what the figures are. For example, the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, said previously that of the 4,000 only 2,622 persons would be relocated from Italy and Greece, while the others would come on the family resettlement programme. That is deeply troubling given the manner in which we are implementing that programme already. For example, I am aware of a Syrian who lives here with Irish friends and who has been trying to relocate some of her family to Ireland under family reunification provisions. Such has been the concern of some friends in Ireland that they have travelled to Greece to assist this woman to be reunited with her family. They have been through extreme trauma. Anyway, they have been unable to do what they set out to do.

The stories from the people on the front line do not back up the points made to the effect that it is a bureaucracy operated by the Greeks and Italians and it is all their fault. Moreover, they do not correspond to Deputy Farrell's version to the effect that no one wants to come to Ireland anyway. That is not what Irish volunteers are saying. They have been in Greece and Lebanon. To a man and to a woman the story they come back with is that no one there is aware of Ireland. There is zero recognition of Ireland as a destination. Irish volunteers have gone to every camp in Lebanon. They have seen hardly any presence of Irish people there, albeit they are not there all the time. They have interviewed people with the help of interpreters. In the case of each of the sites, the people there simply did not know about Ireland, the type of country it was, whether they would be welcome or anything like that. Deputy Wallace and I went to Calais. Given the geography and given that Ireland is a small country, many people do not realise that Ireland is an English-speaking country. However, language is one of the key reasons the people in Calais want to go to England. They do not realise how the system works.

The approach taken to family unification has been adversarial rather than a sensitive or sympathetic approach. I put it to the Minister that she has considerable latitude in this regard. Ultimately, the decisions are taken by the Minister and she has discretion. Why does she not intervene and exercise that discretion?

The Minister has made public statements to the effect that addressing the question of unaccompanied minors would be a priority. This is a real area of concern, especially given the decision of the French Government to shut down "the jungle" later this month and the fact that France has said it cannot accommodate more than 250 of the unaccompanied minors there. There is potential for hundreds of children to be lost and unaccounted for. I want to know what we are doing in that regard. What accommodation is available for these children? We have tried to pursue this with Tusla and we have asked how the agency is dealing with these matters. The Minister has spoken publicly of the extraordinary and generous offers by the public of accommodation and taking on children. All of that is true but it is not being processed. Where are the log-jams in that placement? For example, Tusla has said it has vetted three people for foster care arrangements. I and others have said publicly that we would be happy to put ourselves forward to care for an unaccompanied minor and to be vetted and so on. If we were to publicly advertise these schemes I believe there are large numbers of Irish people who would be willing to participate and it could happen at no extra expense to the State. It could alleviate the trauma those children are experiencing. Why not establish a temporary consulate and humanitarian visa scheme? We could bring some of those children here. They are in imminent danger.

I am conscious of the time and I would like to discuss this more. We have not done enough and there are things we could do if we had the will. It would be great if we did something to stand out in terms of our dealings with the hot spots. For example, there are 18 places for unaccompanied minors at the moment. That is completely and utterly inadequate when it comes to the assessment of facilities here. There should be at least 100 places. Berlin, which has a population of 3.5 million people, has 900 residential places for unaccompanied children. We need to do far more. I am embarrassed and ashamed as an Irish person because of how little we have done.

I do not think it is bureaucracy or that people do not want to come to Ireland. They know where it is and if we went out and promoted ourselves, there are many who would take the arm off you for the right to come.