Dáil debates

Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Covid-19 (Rural and Community Development): Statements

 

4:35 pm

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise three issues with the Minister, the first of which is not an area under his direct responsibility. However, it is an urgent issue so I will raise it with him now. I have written to the Minister for Justice and Equality about it and ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to raise it with him as well. I refer to the conditions inside the direct provision centre in the Central Hostel in Miltown Malbay, County Clare. A series of very worrying reports about conditions inside the centre were relayed to the Minister last week. These include leaks in ceilings and water running down the walls of bedrooms. In a bedroom shared by two men there is no door to the en suite bathroom, with the toilet and shower visible from the bedroom and no privacy for the occupants. Rodents were spotted in the bedrooms and there was a lack of adequate heating or hot water during the winter months, with only one hour made available per day. Two former residents have alleged that they were assaulted by the owner of the hostel. They complained that the food was consistently substandard, with fried chicken, rice and chips served every day, as well as a lack of clean drinking water. I could go on. In response, the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, has arranged for a Zoom call to take place tomorrow but incredibly, the service has asked the owner of the hostel to arrange that call and to arrange for the men to speak with the IPAS about their experiences. Given that there are significant and serious allegations against the owner of the centre by residents, including allegations of assault, it is clearly completely inappropriate for the owner to act in such a role. Those who are acting in solidarity with the residents have asked that the Zoom call be called off and that the IPAS would intervene directly with the residents and have confidential discussions with them so that they are able to talk freely about their experiences. I ask the Minister to raise this with the Minister for Justice and Equality.

The second issue relates to the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, which have experienced a significant increase in demand for their services, particularly for employment-related advice in the context of the coronavirus. A range of different questions have been reported with women being asked to go on maternity leave early, people being told that they must return to work despite underlying health conditions or being told that they must take annual leave and so on. Effectively employers are not following the rules, are trying to take short cuts and maximise their profits at the expense of workers' health and safety. This has demonstrated the need for FLAC services, with employment-related queries doubling in recent times. FLAC receives funding from the Department of Rural and Community Affairs through Pobal. Will that funding be increased as necessary?

The third issue relates to libraries. While our libraries have largely been shut during the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a huge expansion in the number of people using library services such as Borrow Box and so forth. Thankfully, this serves to demonstrate to people the importance of public spaces.

4 o’clock

At a time when so much public space is being privatised and people have to pay to spend time in it, libraries, be it remotely or on site, are incredibly important. They constitute a service that has been underfunded, that will be increasingly important, that may need extra space in the context of coronavirus and social distancing and that may well need extra staff, so I ask whether, linked to that, the Minister is considering increasing funding for libraries.

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