Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I support what the previous speaker said about the direct provision system. However, in the limited time I have I wish to go a little off message. It is absolutely true that racism and far-right politics can gain from playing on the scarcity of housing in this country. In my area, leaflets are already being distributed, which state that we must look after and house our own first. It immediately begs the question: who are our own? Are they Denis O'Brien, Larry Goodman and the very wealthy in this country such as Keelings? Keelings are at the receiving end of a great deal of criticism in Ballymun today because an entire hotel, Travelodge, is being emptied of homeless people who were being accommodated there to provide for workers who are coming in to work in Keelings. One must ask why the rich Irish always get preferential treatment over the most marginalised in this country, including people in receipt of direct provision and in homeless accommodation.

The question the Minister must answer in the here and now is: what are we doing now to help those who are in direct provision? Do we have to wait until 2024 to see the cruelty of the system ended? In the meantime, do we have to do something to address issues such as, for example, the workers I spoke about on television yesterday who are being pushed out of special accommodation back into direct provision because there is no Covid-19 in the care homes in which they work? The Minister must talk to the Minister for Health and ensure that contradiction is ended. He must also talk to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and ensure a hotel in Ballymun is not emptied of homeless people to facilitate a very wealthy Irish entrepreneur. Those are the challenges we face daily. If the Ministers do not talk to each other and deal with these problems, of course, racists, extremists and far-right activists will milk them for what they are worth. We should look after everybody. They are all human beings. We cannot be forced to have one race or group of desperate people competing against the other.

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