Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the asylum seekers at the Skellig Star hotel in Cahersiveen. They have been treated appallingly since the first day they were put in there in the middle of March. There were 110 people accommodated in 56 rooms. Imagine what that means in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic.

When there was a boil water notice in the town, the residents were limited to 1 l of water per day. They reached out to the Minister for Justice and Equality and the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, for help and to engage in negotiations and discussions. They got little or nothing in return. They were driven to hunger strike. For three days, 28 of the residents went on hunger strike, and the Government has conceded in the face of that. I congratulate those asylum seekers.

I also congratulate the people of Cahersiveen who, to their credit, stood behind the hunger strikers in solidarity. The asylum seekers and their supporters are calling for them to moved out at the weekend and for all of the other people to be moved out very quickly after that. There can be no waiting around for months. The hotel should be closed.

Direct provision is inhumane and should be abolished. The idea that it would continue after this is not something the Government can stand over. How can the Green Party stand over that? I know the Government has said it will abolish direct provision, but that is within a framework of years. The system must be abolished immediately. That is the demand from everyone who is campaigning on this issue.

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