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

As we are asked to speak about the accommodation needs of new arrivals, I think it appropriate to begin by quoting from the first article of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Article 1 has ten words. It merely states: “Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.” The Minister will be aware that in April of this year, in a case taken by a person who came to these shores in search of sanctuary and protection and through vindication of the courts it was established that he received none of it, the State was in breach of those ten words. I raise that finding not from ignorance of the scale of the challenge facing the State or of the Minister’s intent to meet it, but to remind ourselves that at the coalface of these discussions are real people who cannot be expected to place the dignity of their existence on hold indefinitely while the State operates in a perennial state of crisis.

It is time to step away from the politics and language of crisis, which is used only to justify or excuse failures, and accept that in this age of conflict, severe inequality and ongoing intensification of climate change, people will continue to come here for the very reason that their lives and those of their families depend upon it. As we accept this, it is time to start designing the long-term architecture of decency for these people in order that we are no longer asking individuals to sleep in tents in the streets or forcing dereliction, poverty and destitution on them. They are struggling to the point that we have to open Government buildings so that they can have access to bathrooms. We need a plan.

The Minister rightly spoke about the Irish history of emigration. I would add to that the subject of Ireland's history of institutionalisation, which should make us all very wary and careful as we move forward. I fully accept the scale of the issue the Minister is confronting. I have acknowledged on several occasions that he needs more support from across his Cabinet. Yet, we also need to be very careful. We must remember the injustices of our history. We cannot be immune to seeing them being replicated in different places. I urge the Minister to come up with a long-term plan and to ensure that there is State intervention. No longer should we see the monetisation of oppression. The State needs to step in and provide accommodation that is suitable for people's needs. We do not want to see another situation next year where people will be in tents coming into the winter. We accept that hotels will come under strain as the tourism season kicks in. We need a plan.

There seems to be an erosion of the findings of the Catherine Day report, although I recognise that the world was a different place when it was written. There will always be a need for decency in the accommodation we afford to people who come here legally in search of sanctuary. I do not think we should take that report off the table. We should recommit ourselves to meeting what is involved in it. I trust that the Minister cares about that just as much as we do, but we should be working alongside each other to meet that.

There is a two-tier system that we cannot step away from and that is grotesquely unfair. For the Ukrainians who have entered the EU under the temporary directive, it is very different from applying under international protection rules. The directive recognises that people are fleeing conflict and persecution and does not require them to prove it. Anyone who is entering Ireland under the directive is immediately provided with a personal public service number and has access to welfare, education, healthcare and work as a result. That is incredibly appropriate, it is right and it should happen. Everyone who has come to Ireland in search of sanctuary feels that all humans are equally susceptible to the effects of war, violence and torture. People have been fleeing here from countries such as Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria, and they should be treated no differently. They also need to be able to come here and feel they are respected in the same way as others. We should not have a two-tier system when it comes to people who have experienced trauma and who came here on those terms.

We live in extraordinary times. In that context, it is important to treat people with respect. There is a corrosive and insidious so-called far right that is being backed up by wealthy establishments far away. It is telling others that to treat people with respect and decency and talk to them as though they are intelligent is in some way to be elitist. That is the space in which we are operating. That is why we have continuously asked for a plan for a communications strategy. I agree that people in communities deserve to be informed. They deserve these resources. There are very few people to whom I have spoken in my constituency or elsewhere who want for a veto. If they did, I would be the first person to tell them that they are not getting one. Yet, people deserve to be informed. We are seven months on from what we saw in my constituency in East Wall. It should be the case that only two weeks ago that a tender went out for that sort of communications strategy. Both the Minister and the Minister of State mentioned that the far right has a playbook-----

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