Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will try to be quick in going through my questions as I have a lot of them. Mr. Kirrane does not have to provide lengthy answers.

I am a little worried about the family reunification process and the after effects. I will use one case to illustrate the point. A person is given one year to get here. He or she comes from a war-torn area. In the case of an unaccompanied minor whose mother and junior sibling have been given permission to come to Ireland, everyone is delighted, but how will she get here? Where will she live and where are the supports available? I am aware of one case in which the clock is ticking. The decision was made in January and the permission will soon run out, but no one has any idea where this woman is going to live. The Red Cross or some other organisation is trying to organise her travel, but there is no accommodation available. Does one just transplant a family from the Middle East and place them in County Donegal? The woman in question has not seen her son for years, but we expect them to rejoin family life and that everything will be fine. Who joins the dots? If accommodation has not been found, should there not be something in place like the arrangements which have been made for Syrians? I refer to the accommodation provided in Monasterevin where they get to know Ireland, learn English and meet people. It is an integration centre, rather than direct provision accommodation. Should we not make the same provision for family reunification? It seems bizarre that we do not. What happens when the 12-month period runs out, as it appears it might in this case? The young teenager in question is waiting for his mother to come and the delay is not their fault. What will happen in that case?