Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is incumbent on people to provide an alternative system or to at least provide suggestions to support an alternative system. One of the alternative systems is that, rather than having 120 or 220 people in one building, they would be dispersed throughout a community. Many of these centres are located in rural Ireland. One thing rural Ireland has is housing stock. What it does not have is people. Those people could be dispersed among communities and there is huge support for asylum seekers when they come to a community. Lisdoonvarna is a case in point. It was a controversial site in spring of last year and the community has embraced the asylum seekers who arrived in the town. Voluntary groups come together to support them but they are still congregated in one location, usually in a hotel or hostel that is no longer used.

The Department of Justice and Equality needs to look at a new model of dispersing people throughout a community, whereby, rather than allowing them to be congregated, they are integrated into a community. That is the direction in which the Government should go, which would counter what has happened recently with the protests in Oughterard. The community there was not informed or given assurances that they would have the necessary supports to look after such a large group of people coming into a relatively small community. However, if they were dispersed throughout the county or throughout an area, I do not think there would be the same level of opposition.

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