Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be able to speak on this sensitive and important topic. The issue of reception centres has been dogging us for a long number of years. There is a centre in Carrick-on-Suir which has changed and adapted and become very good and the people in it have integrated well. However, in times to come, I do not think history will be kind to us as a nation for the way we have treated asylum seekers in general. That goes without saying.

We look at the legacies of the past and talk about the Magdalen laundries and other such issues but on this issue we have taken a ham-fisted and badly organised approach. The White Paper produced in this area gave people hope that there would be changes. It was very aspirational and very little seems to have happened. This is not a personal criticism of the Minister. We have seen the appalling circumstances from which people are trying to flee, including war and devastation. We have seen graphic images of people on sinking boats and the huge loss of life. These people walked for days and weeks and having saved whatever money they could, paid unscrupulous people who then put them on boats that were not fit for purpose. That is traumatic enough without having to deal with arriving here and not being treated with a modicum of dignity and respect.

I have been criticised in the past for saying we should have limits. I say this in the context that we should cut our cloth according to measure and should look after people properly and with a modicum of respect. As I said, we have not done that. Private entrepreneurs got involved, some of whom were very good while others were desperate and awful. Millions of euro have been poured into the coffers of private individuals to do this. I know where they are and it is not far from where we stand. In a town not far from here, by the seaside, people have been treated appallingly. They have been put in big rooms divided into three parts and handed curry and chips in a plastic bag, with the use of vending machines at night. It is shocking. I wonder who is overseeing this to make sure these people are treated properly. This is no way to treat visitors who come here. We have travelled the world with an expectation of a modicum of support. A lot of work needs to be done to ensure these people are treated with dignity and respect, as they must be if we are to have any self-respect.

See this speech in context