Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The arson attacks seen in communities across Ireland are simply inexcusable. There is no justification for them and the perpetrators do not represent the vast majority of people from the communities affected. They are the actions of a small number of nasty actors driven by hate. Their intention is to divide communities. This type of criminal damage and intimidation serves nobody. Lives are put at risk and, in a number of instances, buildings that were not even going to be used for emergency international accommodation were burned simply due to rumours circulated online by those nasty actors. There must be an adequate response to these attacks, through prevention, monitoring and protecting premises that are targeted and, in retrospect, bringing those responsible to justice. The inexcusable actions of those engaged in criminality should not be used to dismiss or ignore genuine concerns of local communities being exploited by those actors.

The Government has made a mess of the asylum system. If it was to start with the intention of purposely antagonising local communities, it would not have been able to do a better job. Government has made multimillionaires of a small number of private companies and left local communities to pick up the pieces.

The situation at the D Hotel in Drogheda is one of the latest and probably one of the most stark examples of a failed approach. The only criterion considered by the Department is the availability of a premises. There is no consideration of the economic impact of the removal of a hotel – the main hotel in many cases – from a local community, of the number of asylum seekers already housed in an area or of the capacity of local services. There is no prior engagement with local elected representatives, community leaders, schools, GPs or other services. The Department just signed a lucrative contract with hotel owners and then informed everyone else it was a done deal. The actions of Ministers since in trying to suggest alternative arrangements such as dual uses for the hotel simply expose that there was no plan. Lots of hotels are struggling and many have cried out to Government for support which the Government has not provided. Instead, a message is given that the way to overcome the challenges is to stop being a hotel. It is not good enough.

If an asylum process is to work, it has to be fair, efficient and enforced. That is what Sinn Féin demands – not open borders as some of those nasty actors try to suggest in their anonymous online rants. For the system to be fair, we must recognise the positive contribution of the vast majority of people who have made Ireland their home but we must also recognise that Irish people by and large have been very welcoming and have gone out of their way to facilitate those who have come here in search of a better life. We must also recognise it is not fair to ask communities living with the housing crisis and suffering as a result of Government failures in health and other public services to suck it up when their last amenity, whether it be the local hotel or another business, is removed from use without a single thought for the impact. I have seen people in rural communities that have lost their local Garda station and post office and where people cannot get a GP appointment then wake up to learn that their last amenity, the local hotel, has been turned into an international emergency accommodation centre. It is a recipe for disaster. Government Members cannot scratch their heads and wonder why people are angry and frustrated.

The dependence on private operators adds to the anger.

People with genuine concerns watch as those operators make a literal fortune while their community is expected to deal with the outworking of Government's failed approach. The failure of the parties opposite to implement their plan to construct State-led accommodation centres is not acceptable. The longer they rely on a system that enriches a few and gives no consideration to any criteria other than the availability of a building, the worse the problem will get. Despite all of the promises, there have been no tangible supports for communities which have accommodated large numbers of asylum seekers or Ukrainians. There has been a lot of talk, but no meaningful support.

It must be acknowledged that a two-tier international protection system was applied after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While understandable considering the emergency situation, it has added to the sense of unfairness. The temporary measures for Ukrainians end in a year and following that we must return to a single asylum process and a plan for that has to be put in place now.

To be efficient means that applications for international protection must be processed quickly. The process still takes far too long. Some of those who are applying for international production wait years for a decision to be made. That is unfair on them. It is also unfair on new arrivals who are forced to sleep on the streets because places are being taken up by those who are waiting too long.

For those who are successful in their application, we have to do more to support them to play an active role in our society and help them to get the jobs that we need workers for and play a positive role in enhancing our communities. Those who are not successful must leave. That might sound harsh but it is the only way to ensure that the system actually works. It is not good enough that the Government cannot, even at this stage, confirm that all those who have been refused international protection have actually left. Without that assurance, the view that the system is not enforced feeds into the frustration that I referenced earlier. It adds to the capacity issues that are obvious to everyone except, it appears, the Government.

Those who have come to Ireland in search of a better life deserve the same respect we would expect to be afforded to Irish people who move abroad. The vast majority of Irish people are welcoming, accommodating and compassionate. They want an asylum system that is fair, efficient and enforced and it is time for that to be delivered. In the meantime, anger should be directed at those responsible for the current failures, that is, this Government, and not at those who are living in emergency accommodation and who simply came to Ireland because they want what is best for their families. Those who exploit the genuine concerns and frustrations through online manipulation and, worse, criminal damage to property and the endangering of innocent lives, must be faced down by all right thinking people.

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