Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the reply. I welcome the fact we now know there is a point of contact. The Minister mentioned quality of food; my comment was not about quality but quantity. I know the matter has been resolved but there was an issue with a buffet-style system where it was kind of like "stretch or starve". If the people were there in time, they got something to eat, but they did not if they came later. I know that has been dealt with, thanks be to God.

The crux of the problem is that many of these families are isolated from public transport routes etc. They are not totally isolated but there have been massive issues with getting into the local town, as I mentioned, and getting kids to school etc. At least I know now I can follow that up with the transport authority.

I will contact the local authority this week and I might touch base with the Minister again. As I said, this is not about pitting anybody against somebody else. These are isolated incidents but I do not want them to fester. The majority of people in all the communities have been exceptionally welcoming, as I noted. Some of these families have already got jobs, which is amazing, and many of them have very good English. We are a welcoming country. On this side of the House anyway we like to look after everyone, and it is not about colour, class, creed or religion when it comes to people living in this country.

I thank the Minister for his reply and I will follow up with him and his Department to let him know I get on with contacting the local authorities, specifically on the transport question. That seems to be a big issue. As I said, if I do not get a reasonable response from local authorities, I will be back to the Minister again.

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