Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No one was ever going to be in any doubt that there would be an increase in the number of people coming into the country to seek asylum following Covid-19. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated this situation. The crisis has posed some serious questions. We can address some of those in another question later perhaps. What is concerning in this regard, though, is that we may end up being stuck in the same cycle as we experienced several years ago. That crisis came to a head with the situation in Cahersiveen. It seems now, however, that we are back to a situation where large-scale profits will be made in this context and refugees will be housed in hotels. There is no own-door accommodation or cooking facilities and people are being accommodated away from essential services in locations where there is a lack of transport and so on. Does the Minister think we are making the same mistake in this regard all over again? What is the Department doing to address this situation?

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