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

I will start by quoting an Afghani international protection applicant who arrived in Ireland on 26 January: "I have nowhere to go, I'm tired and I'm afraid I will die in the cold." This was when the Government announced it had no more accommodation for international protection applicants. On top of that are the 5,000 people who have the right to leave direct provision but are still stuck in it because they have nowhere to go. It is baffling the Minister's party in particular made it a point of principle in designing the programme for Government to end direct provision and deal with these crises, but here we are slap bang in the middle of one.

I wish to challenge what the Taoiseach said yesterday in answer to Deputies Pringle and Barry on Leaders' Questions. He repeated it on "Morning Ireland" today. He said that our telling the Government and previous Governments they had created a housing crisis over the past decade or more had led to the rise of the far right and the lack of accommodation for people who were seeking Ireland's protection. He said that we are giving them an out, but we are not. It is a fact that this Government has voted down every progressive means we have tried to introduce to end the housing crisis, which is at the root of the problem.

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