Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

On the same theme, I was out earlier with Martin Leahy who comes up from Cork every Thursday to sing his song, "Everyone Should Have a Home", outside the Dáil. I want to let people know that on 18 April, after we return from the Easter break, it will be his 100th week. All of us who are concerned with homelessness and the crisis of immigration and the homelessness of immigrants should be outside to sing that song with Martin on 18 April as a form of protest. I will stay on the question of empty State properties. I have been in touch with the Minister and thought we should have a separate session on what happened last Saturday. Like Deputy Ó Ríordáin, I was at the IPAS centre and saw the removal of the tents and property of immigrants by the private company hired by the council. It was the same company, which I witnessed moving Traveller accommodation a number of years ago from Labre Park, where Senator Eileen Flynn comes from. It seems that when there are issues to do with the illegal presence of people who have nowhere else to go, the solution seems to be to get a big mechanical grabber and just remove them. In the 21st century, it seems to me utterly shameful. My big issue with people being moved out to Crooksling was not so much the scrapping of the tents, as it was Crooksling itself. I know it because I worked there years ago. It is on the road from Tallaght to Blessington and was the site of an arson attack, precisely because immigrants were supposed to be moved out there. I thought you would want to be nuts to send them back to the scene of the crime and of course they did face protests, hostility and threats and probably will do again. I would like some guarantee from the Minister's office that they will be protected and safe there.

On the question of empty properties, what emerges when looking into this is that the HSE owns properties and the State owns properties. Will the Minister help us by clarifying this?

The Minister distinguishes between State-owned and HSE-owned property. Surely the HSE is an arm of the State and, therefore, whatever property it owns is State owned. On the question of arguing for using Baggot Street hospital, according to the architect Mel Reynolds, the hospital could, with very little expenditure, house up to 600 people because there are corridors, dormitories, toilets, showers, kitchens-----

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