Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In the past week, when the IP applicants who were camped out on Mount Street - some still are - were bussed to Crooksling, the optics were that they were being hidden from international eyes for the St. Patrick’s Day festival. It is an appalling way to treat human beings.

The direct provision system, which was to be phased out, is overwhelmed and cannot cope with the new intake of over 5,500 people who have been through the immigration system and have the right to remain. The problem is that there is nowhere for them to move on to.

At the centre of this is the housing crisis. We have repeatedly called for an all-of-government approach. This would need a plan and would mean that, instead of outsourcing the issue to the private sector and throwing buckets of money at what has now become a crisis, the Government would have to govern. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth was given a one-dimensional task but has been overwhelmed. It is as if the coalition Government is risk averse and trying to compartmentalise the issue when it is in fact multifaceted.

We seem to be in a permanent state of emergency. That emergency is not of the making of those who have fled the war in Ukraine or who have applied for international protection. The use of commercial buildings such as hotels or disused industrial buildings, which would otherwise not be used for housing, is where the focus has been in terms of the accommodation of international protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees, with the Department issuing calls for expressions of interest for private sector accommodation. Normal planning rules have been suspended or relaxed, as have normal procurement processes, such as public tenders. There is a feeling that money is being thrown at the issue without any of the normal checks and balances.

I was informed at a recent public accounts committee meeting that providers had to be tax compliant. When I pressed for information on what other controls were required, that seemed to be it. One logical conclusion from this is that someone with a criminal background who is tax compliant can qualify. Some of those who have won tenders do not appear to be people of means. There are legitimate questions about where the money used by those who purchased the buildings in the first place came from. Due to a European court judgment and the heavy-handed way it was applied here, it is now impossible to find out who the beneficial owners of some of these companies are. Even a cursory glance shows that there are companies within companies in a web that is impossible to untangle. We have no way of knowing where the money is coming from or who is financially benefiting from these contracts. In some cases, they are benefiting from multiple contracts. This matters. The fact that the departmental process is so internalised and secretive means that we do not know how this concern is being handled. This is not to say that most providers are not completely legitimate, but vast sums of money are being made.

Vulnerable people are at the centre of this. There is no doubt that our contribution to the war on Ukraine is a humanitarian one, and primarily involves taking in displaced people. There is no doubt that this will cost money, and I accept that. There is no doubt that we have international obligations when it comes to international protection applicants. That will also cost money, and I accept that as well. However, none of this means that we should dispense with basics like value for money, good controls, good governance and our humanitarian obligations. This is an internal process used by the Department. It is not just an issue of communication. Rather, it is about a lack of any kind of cross-government plan, robust process or procurement controls that involve control of costs, and as long as we accept this from the Government, we will get more of the same.

What we are looking at is a symptom of something that is much bigger, namely, the housing crisis and the crisis of inadequate public services. Where is the plan? I have seen people who do not have means but who have been able to buy a building for €1.2 million and then get €250,000 per month to run it. Why are we not considering buying places ourselves and then managing them instead of throwing them out to be mismanaged, as has happened in some cases? There is a lack of any kind of cross-government plan. From the word "Go", we have been calling for such a plan. There must be a whole-of-government approach. It cannot be compartmentalised into the Minister's Department.

See this speech in context