Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

From my exposure to the matter, some of the friends of the centre groups in various parts of the country have been able to structure drop-in centres. In the area I am most aware of and exposed to, it is super. It is all part of the efforts of very good people in the community. I would cut out the management as a dependent means of advising. If there is an identifiable address with a permanent presence it should be for more than five days a week. It is even more important at weekends that there is an address and somebody can be contacted.

Last weekend, I attended an event in my home town organised by the ISPCC and want to acknowledge it because it was absolutely wonderful. We waited while the bus came from the distant direct provision centre, that some are all too familiar with. The young people came in from the centre for the evening event and it was absolutely super. I take my hat off to the parents and friends who all contributed. The ISPCC must be acknowledged for its initiative in ensuring inclusivity. It was a powerful simple hour in the evening.

Many of my colleagues have spoken about and reflected on some of the bigger issues.

In some centres, there is a tussle between rigidity and flexibility. We all need a little bit of flexibility in our lives. Rigidity is giving rise to unnecessary points of interface or conflict. These are not big issues. They are small things for people in life situations they see as being very confined, but they can grow exponentially. Rigidity should be okay; there must be rules. The application of rigidity in the situations I can think of, however, is beyond acceptable. There is also a conflict between respect and what I would regard as pettiness. I could not start to outline the instances and examples of pettiness being applied in many of these situations. People in this room, and anyone watching the meeting, would be incredulous. They would think, "God bless us; is this really happening?" It really and truly is. If anyone listening has any role at all in all of this, I ask them to put the pettiness aside. People deserve respect. The last thing is the battle between meanness and fairness. I see all of these things in the experiences of many people whose introductions to our society have been discoloured by this rigidity, pettiness and meanness. That is not our people; that is not what we are about. Our people are very different from that. I would like to see flexibility, respect and fairness as the new absolute principles of engagement with those who present seeking our help.

I will conclude with that. Is there anything Mr. Tyndall would like to say before we bring our engagement to a close?