Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this subject, which has gripped every community, with everyone discussing the arson attacks. I condemn such acts outright. No one who has respect for this country, law and order, gardaí, the people coming to our country and his or her community, in which those in question are destroying vital infrastructure, supports them.

All of these acts are unnecessary. I listened to the earlier contributions from my office. It was mentioned that 100,000 people had come to this country in recent years. On top of the pressures we have in terms of a growing population, GPs, whom we discussed last week, and other services, it is not an easy task to find a solution to how this should be handled. As a country, we have been inviting of these people, be they from Ukraine or asylum seekers. When one travels around the country or goes into one’s local town or shop, one invariably meets people who are from a different country. When I was a young fella growing up, it was just ourselves. However, we were also brought up with the knowledge that the generations before us had needed to emigrate because they could not make a living here. They went to other countries, where some were not treated too well. We were sore about that treatment for generations. We must remember that what is happening now in terms of immigration is what we ourselves did in the past, when people had to leave Ireland and go to other countries to try to make a living and keep existing.

The main issue I encounter as a public representative is the lack of communication with communities about what is happening. Speaking as a community worker, communities will be part of the solution if they are involved in a timely way. Instead, rumours circulate. I will get a phone call asking whether such and such a building is being used for asylum seekers or the like. I will have to check with the Department and then revert to the person who called to say that it is not happening and is only a rumour. It is difficult to dispel these rumours because of all the types of social media messaging about such issues. As public representatives in the House, it is important that we have an Oireachtas line to the Department so that, as soon as we are asked about something relating to this matter, we can get an immediate answer. Councillors in every local authority should also be communicated with.

Deputy O’Dowd spoke about Drogheda and set out what had happened. The scale of it is too much for a town like Drogheda and is taking away from the town.

I have people coming to my office looking for housing, including social housing. They would buy a house in the morning if they could, as they are working people, but they cannot because there is none for sale. People cannot even get social housing. They are living in rented accommodation and so on.

They often say to me that the foreigners are getting everything. That mantra exists. I deny that and explain to them what is actually happening. We are battling a tide like that, however, where people are building a philosophy that foreigners are getting everything and Irish people are getting nothing. That message needs to be turned around fast. It comes back to communication. When we select a place for a big centre, we have to do the due diligence on the property but that is only the start of it. The due diligence has to be done on the community and whether the community can support 500 people coming into it in one go like that.

There is no point in giving out to the Government. This is not something that is of its making. There is huge demand. Everybody in this House should be of one mind that we do not condone any kind of violence or hatred and we protect our democracy. That is what we are here for. The important thing is that we continue to do that. Everybody in the House has a responsibility to support the Government and the Government members have to support one another across Departments to make sure that when we do this job, we do it to the best of our ability and that we are trying to plan it a bit better to make sure that we can give information to communities in a timely fashion to make sure that people are well informed about what is happening and that the truth prevails in all cases. Otherwise, we will end up with more vandalism and fires and with people getting hurt and maybe killed. That is where we are going if we do not arrest this mayhem that is happening. It is a real threat and many people are saying nothing. The silent majority is saying nothing. We have to make sure that the silent majority that is in here says something, that we do not tolerate this any more and that we will not stand for it. We need to see action being taken and arrests being made in order that people will understand there is a consequence when they cause wanton damage like this to property and to people as well.

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