Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I will finish on this point. There are rural communities and urban working-class areas where there is a high level of frustration with and disengagement from "official Ireland", to use that term. These are places where you cannot get a GP appointment or it is very hard to access any public service and that has been the case long before we had anybody seeking asylum in this country. Overwhelmingly it those same communities, because they are more likely to have a hotel that is closed or a building that is empty, that are being used for emergency accommodation. The very fact that areas have suffered deprivation leaves them more open to be expected to carry a burden. In order for a sense of fairness to prevail, when the Department is leading in terms of directly providing accommodation through modular homes or otherwise, we have to ensure there is a balance. In this way, we can truly say this is Irish communities working together to meet our international obligations, not just some communities.