Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Irish are an emigrant nation. I was an emigrant. In the 1990s, I moved abroad to seek economic and educational opportunities. My parents did the same in the 1970s and my grandparents did likewise in the 1950s. That experience of emigration is one of the defining characteristics of the Irish as a people. For generations, we have fled famine, persecution, war and economic hardship. That experience gives us a generosity of spirit that is unique in many respects. While there is no doubt that the significant number of people who have come to our country in the last year to seek international protection presents a real challenge, in the overwhelming majority of conversations I have had with people in my constituency and across the country during that period, I have seen that people want to do the right thing. However, I have to say that people need the Government to do the right thing too.

I will briefly reflect on my experience in Clondalkin. Like many constituencies and counties, we have seen a significant addition to our communities as a result of men, women and children, whether from Ukraine or other countries, seeking refuge from war, persecution and hardship. Contrary to what some Ministers have said today, there is no evidence of any plan on the ground. There has been virtually no communication or dialogue with local communities. There has been cursory engagement with some elected representatives but very little beyond that and absolutely no dialogue with communities. We are not asking for a veto - we understand that there is an emergency - but people have a right to be spoken to about what is happening in their communities in a reasonable and sensible way.

There have also been significant concerns about the safety of accommodation. One commercial facility that has been used, and which continues to be used, does not meet basic fire safety certification requirements. It is currently in the process of being evacuated. For more than four months, despite many of us raising these issues, we had men, women and children - and later men only - in a building that was not compliant with fire safety requirements. That is not evidence of a whole-of-government plan.

We have had very little co-ordination between different Departments. At one point, the international protection accommodation services, IPAS, were not even aware that our local partnership had integration workers working on the ground trying to ensure the best possible integration of Ukrainian families. Again, contrary to what Ministers are saying, there is very little evidence on the ground of real co-ordination between the Department of Health, the Department of Education and other entities. That is not to say schoolteachers, individual gardaí or community workers are not doing their absolute level best but that is very different from a whole-of-government plan.

We have also seen an incredibly slow pace in the delivery of accommodation, whether pledged accommodation, modular accommodation or refurbished accommodation. We are more than a year into this crisis. Again, contrary to what Ministers have said, this was anticipated. We were told at this time last year that as many as 200,000 men, women and children from Ukraine might seek refuge here. The Government itself anticipated the scale of this but has not risen to the challenge. All of this means that, particularly because of the over-reliance on hotel accommodation, we will face a very significant challenge come April.

Some of this is not new. The crisis in direct provision did not just arrive in the last year. In 2018, 600 men, women and children who had a legal right to remain in the country were trapped and essentially using direct provision accommodation as emergency accommodation. That figure is now 5,000. These are people who should not be in the direct provision system but, because of the Government's failure to plan, are trapped there against their will.

All of this is creating concern. To those people in our communities who have questions and concerns and who are hearing information from different places, I want to say that we on this side of the House hear you and are working with you to convince the Government to do its job better. The Government would do well to listen to many of us on this side of the House on that.

I ask those who are angry with the Government about other issues such as housing, healthcare and the failure of the Government to meet the needs of our communities not to protest at reception centres. I ask them not to protest against people seeking refuge or fleeing war and to instead join the rest of us in protesting what we should protest, the Government and its failures, including at the protest in Dublin this weekend.

Those on the far right, a very small group of politically motivated activists, have nothing to offer our communities. They seek to spread misinformation, prejudice and hate and to sow division. We are a generous people and a caring, positive and progressive nation. It is time the Government stepped up to the plate and behaved likewise.

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