Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will try to respond to some of those issues. Objectively and fairly, the Government has been responding in real time to a migration system that moved from one that was used to seeing about 3,000 to 4,000 people per year to one that, between international protection applicants and people from Ukraine, saw around 143,000 people over a period of time. The Government has taken a number of actions in real time to try to build those systems and respond. The expansion of the safe countries list is one matter I would point to. Faster processing times is another.

I will inquire about the offer of a rent-a-room scheme. Deputy Troy gave a particular example, but obviously I am very eager to see anybody who offers accommodation being taken up on that offer. I will also inquire about the Copenhagen meeting. I am not across the detail of it. I will come back to the Deputy directly about that.

There will be a consolidation of State-rented facilities. Deputies Troy and Kenny have raised this matter. We have to be very conscious that, where we have a reducing number of people from Ukraine in State-owned accommodation, we have to look at the total portfolio of properties that the State is using a lot of taxpayers’ money to rent. We need to see some hotels being put back into tourism use and public use. I am conscious that there are people, including families, involved and that this is a sensitive issue, but we need to be honest about it. As the number of people here from Ukraine goes down, we obviously cannot have a scenario where we have more facilities than we need and for which we continue to pay a great deal. I do not think that is common sense, and I do not think that the taxpayer would want to see us do that.

Let me say very clearly that I absolutely abhor racism in all its forms. I join with Deputy Boyd Barrett in acknowledging, on the record of this House, the very positive contribution that migrants make to this country. He used the example of our health service. One could use the example of the hospitality sector or schools. One could pick any example. We are a better country as a result of immigrants coming here, just like Irish people made other countries better. I fully accept and agree with that, but I also know this: we have to have a system that is rules based. We have to have the rules enforced, we have to have transparency around the rules and we have to have efficiency in terms of how the rules are applied for the credibility and sustainability of the system. There is not a country in the world that cannot do that.

The other point I would make - I think Deputy Ó Murchú referenced it - is that there are a number of ways of legitimately coming to a country. International protection is there for a very specific purpose. We should assess quickly whether a person has a right to stay or does not have a right to stay, give that determination and then act on it. There are other ways of coming to this country, including the work permit system. We need to keep challenging ourselves in terms of the work permit system and making sure that it is a viable route for many as well.

I completely disagree with Deputy Murphy's characterisation of what we did around Mount Street and at the Grand Canal. We nearly had a public health emergency at Mount Street. The Deputy will have read of some very significant situations that people were encountering. Every single person who was in a tent at Mount Street without access to proper sanitation got relocated to a better facility. It was not an ideal one, but a better one. I genuinely believe that there is a humanitarian element to this, and similarly at the Grand Canal location. Yes, tents are disposed of on the health advice that one cannot reuse them, but people are provided with a better level of shelter and access to sanitation. That is the motivation.

Regarding the decision we have taken in respect of people from Ukraine, we have provided a significant lead-in time, but we have only applied the decision to people in fully serviced accommodation - people who are being provided with free accommodation, free food, free utilities and, crucially, the right to work. There will be many people outside of that. Alternative forms of accommodation were not covered by the Government decision.

Regarding Deputy Barry's point, I will look into that. I am very concerned to hear that. I would be particularly concerned if it turned out to be real data. Data protection applies to everybody, so I will undertake to ask for that to be investigated. I will be happy to come back to the Deputy and provide an update.

I will send Deputy Ó Murchú a note on the progress we have made on processing times and the work we are doing to implement the new Government approach to accommodation.

Regarding Deputy Kenny's point, I met that group from Dromahair while I was in Sligo recently. I support the importance of communities getting services, particularly communities that want to welcome people and be supportive of them. All of the people I met were very reasonable and decent. They wanted to know whether we were going to support the community in terms of services. I will look into the issue relating to the Lough Allen hotel.

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