Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is an important debate and we are glad to be engaged in it because the fund and the initiatives and policies for which it provides money are important and deserve debate.

I wish to raise a number of matters. The first relates to EU migration policy as a whole. We face a migration crisis brought by war, climate change and systematic discrimination, especially in Africa and the Middle East. The easiest thing to do - it is, unfortunately, the path some other EU member states and institutions wish to take - is to pull up the drawbridge and to treat this as not our problem and not to concern ourselves with it. The shredding of international law related to refugee and asylum matters that comprises much of EU policy was opposed by Sinn Féin through our representatives in the European Parliament, but these changes seem to be progressing nonetheless, to be implemented in a number of other ways.

One of the more notable examples is the EURODAC database, which records and stores the fingerprints of migrants for the EU in order to implement the Dublin protocol. Last year a proposal was brought which would see the minimum age for recording of fingerprints on the database brought down from 14 years of age to only six years of age. While this obscenity was done to prevent child trafficking, the implications of this amount of surveillance on minors cannot be ignored. A humane migration policy cannot be built on violating the human rights of those who are fleeing prosecution. Although EURODAC comes under the Department of Justice's purview, it is important to raise and discuss it when discussing EU funding for these matters because it crosses many Departments. The EU also has to grapple increasingly with the urgent need for further programmes of refugee acceptance, which we have seen with regard to Syria and, more recently, in Afghanistan. Those who worked in EU institutions and for America in Afghanistan cannot be left at the mercy of the situation there. While other rescue missions might be difficult, the State should look to accept as many as is practical to come into this country.

Turning to matters specifically under the Department's responsibility, the goal of integration is, of course, an important one, and the fund and the programme that encourages it should enjoy support. However, the material basis of society is what aids integration the most. Where people are pitted against one another for resources and where austerity often prevails, racism will find a more welcoming environment. Integration programmes will not work if housing or healthcare policy is not working. All of these things have to be doing their job. We in Sinn Féin have policies in those areas, which everyone is aware of.

Housing, in particular, will be key to ending direct provision, which, to the Minister's credit, she has made a priority. It is worth putting on record what the Government's White Paper has stated on the matter of accommodation as it was released last year. It states:

- Houses and/or apartments will be built and/or acquired through approved housing bodies or equivalent organisations. This option will be used for families and single people, particularly vulnerable single people.

- Buildings will be repurposed through urban renewal initiatives to create accommodation for single people.

- Rent a room schemes will be used to source some of the accommodation for single people.

- Private tenancies will be used to source accommodation for families as necessary.

It should be noted that the latter two of these four options explicitly rely on the private rental market. While we are all heartened by the stories of people accepting Syrian refugees into their homes, it is not a long-term policy solution, and rent-a-rooms comprise part of the private rental market, meaning they offer poor protection to tenants where there is inflation of prices. The last option is unambiguously focused on private rental, which echoes the Government's failed HAP policies, and recent responses to parliamentary questions do not fill me with confidence as they mention the acquisition of turn-key properties. In and of itself this is not an issue, but there are now multiple agencies bidding against one another and this has the potential to cause further inflation and to condemn refugees to possibly lower standards of end accommodation.

Sinn Féin was clear that the investment into approved housing bodies options was key, especially if purpose-built accommodation is to be constructed. My colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, in a recent paper about the true level of homelessness in this country, revealed that there were 1,640 people who had received leave to remain but were still living in direct provision. The reason for this is very simple: there is nowhere else for them to go due to the shortage of housing. Refugees are particularly vulnerable to discrimination within the private rental market, and I think the Minister is aware of that. Accommodation needs to be provided on a non-profit basis. That is really important. I call on the Minister to start publishing a pipeline report for accommodation to be provided under her Department. Of course, this fund will provide money for that. The report should say what accommodation is forthcoming and by what means it is to be built or acquired. This is incredibly important as it is the stated aim of the Government to essentially clear out the current system before new applicants are brought into the reform system. If we are to clear out the direct provision system now, obviously there will have to be space to put these people. That is the real issue. The inclusion of asylum seekers as part of the undocumented scheme, which I was surprised to see, when the Minister could have just provided leave to remain for these people instead, clearly seems to be part of that policy. Direct provision must be ended humanely. A fudge, where the private rental market would have to provide the accommodation for nearly 9,000 extra people, is simply not going to work and is not acceptable.

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