Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

Migrant Crisis: Discussion

10:00 am

Mr. Michael Kirrane:

The Red Cross has only just started. It has established a website, which was launched on Monday, to garner all of these offers. We are aware of a website called uplift.ie. We have had discussions with the NGOs who organised it. The indications were that there were somewhere around 15,000 offers of help. All of these may not be specific accommodation offers. There is a range of support. That was the indication received when that website was established. The intention is that the Red Cross will garner all of those and look and see where in the country they are to try to match where services are required with the offers that have been made.

On the broader question, the intention is to harness the support of NGOs at local level to deal with matters of integration. Through that process, it is important that we continue to get public support and that we do nothing to alienate it. The intention is to-----