Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is contradicting his own colleague. He mentioned it on RTÉ Radio 1's "Drivetime" on Tuesday. The Minister can take it up with him. The Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, also put out a call for other Ministers to step up. If it is not true, it is certainly something that is being presented by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment's own colleagues.

What is true is that we have yet to meet the scale of this challenge in any sort of requisite way. If we accept the fact that migration is inevitable, we must also accept the fact that we are not meeting the challenge. In that same interview, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, said that we are not meeting our international obligations because we are failing to provide effective accommodation to people who are going to be here. That is the truth. What is the plan? That is the question for us. If we accept that 74,000 people have arrived here through our international protection system over the last 12 months, that what is taking place in Ukraine at the minute means that many more people are going to travel, and that refugees are being used as a tool of war not just in Ukraine but also in Syria and elsewhere, what is going to be the plan to meet those standards over the next year and into the next decade when climate becomes another reason people travel? Surely we need to stop acting surprised. What is absolutely true is that in an Irish winter, there were people sleeping in tents. What is true is that there are people arriving in airports who are being told that we are not going to be able to provide them with accommodation. They are being given a voucher and being told to go sleep on the streets.

We can all talk about the variances of truth, but what is true is that we are not meeting our international obligations. What is true is that there is a communications deficit that has played into the hands of nefarious far-right groups who are playing off the terror existing in communities because of an absence of leadership and effective communication on the part of the Government. We are failing in that regard. We and others across the political divide have stepped forward and asked how best we can play our part. Communities in Ireland are experiencing a confluence of crises in housing, health and poverty, which are not being addressed. They are also being met with a Government that is placing expectations of care without providing the requisite resources and appropriate communications. We are a year into this conflict and we are still getting that wrong. There is a job of work to be done in terms of how we communicate, inform and engage communities. I think we can all step up and meet that challenge. It is a failure on the part of the State and we will all have work to do in addressing that.

On Saturday I will be joining thousands of other people the length and breadth of the country who are going to step out with the simple message of Ireland for all. We will stand in solidarity with those who came here seeking international protection. We are going to acknowledge the crises that exist in this country in housing, healthcare, poverty and point to who is to blame for that and who is not. The blame for that lies squarely with the people who have been in power in this country since the foundation of the State, in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. There will be massive expressions of solidarity. I want to pay testament to the communities and community groups that have stood up and really demonstrated massive leadership in the absence of such leadership elsewhere. In my community, groups like East Wall for All and Drimnagh for All, like similar groups the length and breadth of Ireland, have rolled their sleeves up, engaged in friendship and demonstrated the very best of this country. On Saturday, that will be on full display, but there is a job of work for us to do around this Chamber and in Parliament in terms of how we resource, communicate and inform, and how we stop creating conditions in which nefarious far-right actors can step into the void, spread fear and take advantage of the deficit in leadership that is being left by the State.

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