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

I will be sharing time with the Ministers, Deputies Darragh O'Brien and Harris.

I will begin by setting out the context in which we are having this debate. Since February 2022, more than 85,000 people have fled to Ireland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war was inflicted on a country that did not seek it and has killed thousands of people. It has triggered the largest displacement of people on our continent since the end of the Second World War. At the same time, there is conflict and persecution across the globe. People are forced to flee their homes because of their political beliefs, their religious beliefs and because of who they are. People are fleeing for their lives and they are coming here seeking safety and shelter. Since 1951, the global community has operated under a core tenet of international law learned through the awful experience of the Holocaust: we do not turn away those who seek refuge from persecution and war. That is a fundamental principle which we as a wealthy, safe and liberal democracy and democratic member of the international community must always uphold.

Since the beginning of 2022, which marked both the ending of Covid-19 restrictions and the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we have seen, relative to previous years, a significant increase in the number of people fleeing to Ireland and seeking international protection. There were 15,000 new applicants in 2022 alone. In total, across Ukrainian displaced persons and international protection applicants, we are now providing accommodation to more than 85,000 people. That is equivalent to the population of Galway city. We are doing this at a time of significant accommodation challenges nationwide. As part of our response to the needs of international protection applicants, more than 145 new emergency accommodation centres have been opened since 1 January 2022, of which 49 were brought into use in the first five months of 2023. Since 1 January, my Department has brought on accommodation in a range of repurposed buildings and facilities to address the shortfall in capacity and has worked to address the loss of more than 2,500 hospitality sector beds in the first four months of the year. Almost 6,000 bed spaces have been procured for international protection applicants since the start of the year. All this has been extremely challenging and none of it could have been achieved without the support of local communities.

Throughout Ireland, and away from the news headlines, there is a quiet welcome in towns and villages across the country; a recognition of the basic humanity of those fleeing to Ireland and a belief that they should be welcomed as friends. Through the efforts of volunteers, community workers, public bodies and private sector contributors, many arrivals are being supported with basic needs such as clothing, access to the internet, transport, English classes and information on how to access local services such as childcare, healthcare and education. The Government has stepped up and all Departments, where possible, are providing accommodation in this effort. The Office of Public Works, OPW, is developing rapid-build units. The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is working with universities to provide student accommodation. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and local authorities are supporting us to refurbish units, provide rest centres and stand up community response forums. The Department of Education has ensured that children fleeing Ukraine and those seeking international protection have access to education and the Department of Defence has provided former barracks for accommodation.

Equally, despite the accommodation challenges, the Government has continued to make efforts to improve life for those in the international protection system. We have rolled out a national integration fund worth €1.6 million supporting integration projects in communities. We will be funding integration teams in each local authority to better help international protection applicants engage with existing local services. My Department is providing €1.3 million in support for children and young people’s service committees, CYPSCs, to develop support services for children and young people in direct provision. We have expanded the right to work, provided access to bank accounts for the first time, introduced vulnerability assessments of new applicants and aim to deliver dedicated accommodation for victims of trafficking later this year.

The issue of engagement has been raised by a number of Deputies in this House and in the media in recent days. In the past year, I have held dozens of meetings with Deputies, Senators, councillors and community groups about accommodation centres for both international protection applicants and displaced Ukrainians. I have heard concerns raised and sought to work with local authorities and public representatives to address concerns where possible. We have to be honest about the challenges in engaging on issues like this. When information has gone public prematurely or indeed misinformation about the use of a building has circulated, accommodation providers have faced threats and in some cases arson. The nature of this crisis means that we do not always get to do the level of engagement we would like. The need to get vulnerable people off the streets and into accommodation dictates that moves have to happen faster than a full information campaign can. This is not ideal, but this is a crisis and things are rarely ideal in a crisis. My Department and the Department of the Taoiseach are working to expand capacity to enable us to improve the level of community engagement. The reality is, however, that while the work is ongoing, we will continue to need to accommodate people at short notice. Whatever concerns may exist locally, I do not believe that a blockade of accommodation is appropriate. All it will achieve is to keep vulnerable people on the streets longer. Equally, I think we can all agree that masked men filming and intimidating those going into and out of accommodation centres, whether residents or people working in the centres, are not concerned locals.

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