Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I want to begin by setting the context in which we are having this debate. As we sit here this evening, Ireland is in the midst of the greatest humanitarian effort in the history of the State. More than 70,000 people have fled here from a war in Europe: a war inflicted on a country that did not seek it, and that has killed more than 7,000 civilians. It is the biggest displacement of people on the Continent since the Second World War.

Thousands of people, mostly women and children, have fled here to seek safety, and ensure they can have a future for themselves and their children. At the same time, there is conflict and persecution in other places around the world: in Afghanistan, in Iran, in parts of north Africa and in the Middle East. People flee their country because of their political beliefs or religious beliefs, or they face persecution because of who they are. Often, people fleeing here are fleeing for their very lives. They are coming here seeking shelter and safety.

Since the beginning of 2022, marking both the ending of Covid restrictions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we have seen - relative to previous years - a significant increase in the number of people fleeing here. More than 70,000 people have fled the war in Ukraine, alongside 15,000 new international protection applicants. In the space of 11 months, we have provided accommodation to 78,000 people, which is equivalent to the population of Galway city. We have done this at a time of significant accommodation challenges, something many Deputies have spoken about.

This is the largest humanitarian response in the history of the State. My Department has the responsibility to lead on the immediate accommodation needs of this response. We established a Ukraine unit within my Department, comprising 150 staff, and expanded the International Protection Accommodation Service.

The Department now has more than 700 accommodation contracts. Around a quarter of the hotel beds in the country have been contracted. For the first time, we will see the roll-out of modular units for 2,000 people, with the first of the units due for occupation in the coming weeks. We have made use of barracks, offices, student accommodation and sports grounds. Every week, we are accommodating hundreds of additional people.

There has been a response over the last year across the apparatus of the State - from my own Department to the Departments of Social Protection, Justice and Education, and through agencies like Tusla and HSE. Local authorities have stood up rest centres for those fleeing here from Ukraine. The Department of Defence has provided multiple sites for accommodation, both for people from Ukraine and those in the international protection system. The OPW is progressing the delivery of modular units. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, sports organisations and the Department of Education have all provided buildings for short-term use. The Department of Housing is working with local authorities on the new vacant homes programme and undertaking the refurbishment of State-owned institutional buildings.

Importantly, alongside the response from the State, Irish society has also generously responded. Across the country, we have seen welcomes extended to new arrivals. Communities have rallied around to support new arrivals in their cities, towns and villages. Thousands of people have opened their homes to those fleeing the war. Almost 7,000 people are now in pledged accommodation around the country.

Through the efforts of local volunteers, community workers, public bodies and private sector contributions, many arrivals are being supported with basic needs such as clothing, access to the Internet, transport, English-language classes and information on how to access local services such as childcare, schools and healthcare.

We have heard throughout this debate that those who have fled here are learning alongside our children in schools. They are working with us and they are becoming valued members of the community and making their own contribution. This has been a monumental intergenerational effort, and in the midst of these difficult days I believe it is important that we do not forget that fact. Yet, over the past six months, we have seen an insidious thread of racism, xenophobia and fearmongering emerge. We have seen protests outside people's homes. We have also seen protests against vulnerable children, where those children are too terrified to look outside their own window. Misinformation and outright lies have been spread on social media and in communities across the country. There has been a vilification of men in particular, who have come here seeking international protection. Some of these men have been tortured and exploited, and they have come here seeking refuge. They have been denigrated as something other, something to be feared.

We are in the midst of the greatest humanitarian effort in the history of the State, and it is up to us to choose who we are, and how we respond. How do we want history to remember our State and our people in this moment? I believe the vast majority of Irish people want to see us respond to what is a humanitarian crisis in Europe and beyond. They do not want to see their country walk off the pitch when challenged. I believe we should be firm in our defence of safety and compassion and in the concept of international protection.

International protection means fairly and humanely examining a claim for asylum; sheltering and supporting people while that claim is assessed; and giving people the right to stay here in safety where it is adjudicated that they need it. We should not be ashamed of doing that or shy away from it. That too, means that some people will not be successful in their applications and will have to return to their home countries. However, we should not vilify those people because with our deep history of emigration in this country, we have an instinctive understanding of those who leave their own country to seek to make a better life for themselves elsewhere. Not one Irish person listening to me does not have a relative who has left at some point. That is true for all of us in this House and in this country. We must remember that everyone has someone who has gone away, left this country - often men - to make a better life abroad. It cannot become the norm that another person's permission is required to provide basic shelter to any human being, whether from Ireland or from abroad.

I have always believed that respect for human rights and an understanding of the plight of people in need is a key mark of Irishness. We should be proud of that and we need to sustain it, when it is under attack; it is under attack from certain quarters right now. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and I are engaging with colleagues in government to ensure we can build positive linkages between communities and new arrivals. Doing so, in this time of acute crisis, where we have to move rapidly, is challenging, but it can and will be done.

Despite our success in accommodating the 75,000 people who have fled here, we face significant and immediate challenges. As arrivals continue, our ability to contract further serviced accommodation is reducing. In addition, we are facing the loss of significant number of international protection beds by the end of April. Over the past year, we have used student accommodation provided by higher education, school buildings from the Department of Education, sports facilities from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and work on sites for rapid build with the Office of Public Works, OPW. However, I cannot accept a situation, whatever the context, where international protection applicants are going without accommodation.

We have to do more. The State must do more. My Department can and will do more to develop further accommodation options, including building and buying properties for international protection applicants. I will continue to work with colleagues across Government and throughout our State agencies to do more, supporting this effort with further accommodation options, meeting the very substantial challenges we face. We have to expedite the refurbishment of properties. We have to do more at moving those with status out of international protection accommodation and allow them to live within the wider community and encourage those who have fled here from Ukraine into other forms of accommodation.

I will close by thanking Deputies for their contributions this evening, many of which have been heartfelt and have arisen from their own experiences in their communities in responding to this humanitarian crisis. I also thank the Deputies for their many individual engagements with me on these issues over the past year. Many members have been in touch with me and my office, in support of the accommodation efforts since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. That constructive engagement is always a considerable help to me and to those fleeing here. I take the opportunity to acknowledge that many people in these Houses have shown real leadership in their communities and, in certain cases, at some cost to those Deputies and Senators. It is important we say that.

This is the largest humanitarian effort in the history of the State. It is challenging and will continue to be challenging. However, both the State and the Irish people have the capacity, compassion and resources to respond to this challenge, to make ourselves proud of this response and to look back in future years and know that, when challenged, we did all that we could and that Ireland played its part.

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