Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Molaim go bhfuil an díospóireacht ar siúl anocht agus measaim go bhfuil tuairimí éagsúla sa Dáil faoin gceist. Is é mo thuairim láidir, ámh, go bhfuil sé an-tábhachtach go mbeimis ag cabhrú leis na tíortha eile san Aontas Eorpach agus go mbeadh an dearcadh céanna ag gach tír agus go mbeidh an polasaí, más féidir é, a bheith chomh séimh agus a bheith ag obair i ngach áit. Is trua liom nach bhfuil an polasaí i gContae Lú, go háirithe, ag obair in aon chor mar tá daoine ar buile faoi na rudaí a thit amach. Goilleann na rudaí atá le rá agam anois i mBéarla, go háirithe, go mór orm.

It is important that, as common countries in the European Union, we work together to deal effectively, humanely and appropriately with all of the issues that arise in this context. I support the Minister in her proposals. This is the only way forward. We cannot pick and choose. We have to act together and have the same frontier and policies. An issue I would like to see addressed, though, is that of the list of safe countries. As I understand the matter, different countries in Europe have different lists. We all need to have the same list, if possible. Some countries that are nearer to the Mediterranean Sea have more countries on their lists than states like we do, but we need a common policy that works.

We have just come through local elections. In County Louth in my constituency, particularly in my town, the issues of international protection, race, colour and the D Hotel were to the fore. Notwithstanding all the arguments and criticisms, we elected Drogheda’s first black councillor ever. She is an immigrant from Nigeria who settled in our town. She has lived here for 33 years and done a magnificent job in the health services. As the Minister pointed out, immigration adds to capacity in the health services, IT services and so on, so we must be focused and practical in what we do. If we have a shortage of skills in our economy and cannot, for example, build the houses we want to build today or tomorrow as a result, and if some of our international protection applicants or people from Ukraine have those skills, I do not see why we should not be able to match their skills with our needs. When people are coming to the country who have the skills we need, we should use them productively. Doing so would be important.

The criticism is that we do not favour humane and appropriate policy. We do - I certainly do, and I stand firmly on that platform - but the Government, in particular the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, and his Department, has got it entirely wrong in Drogheda. Let us consider the figures in the nearby counties. Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan are a natural combination of four counties that works in many ways. The number of international protection applicants in Cavan is 155. In Monaghan, it is 693. In Meath, which is a larger county than Louth, it is 1,001. Louth, however, has 1,165. The Government has doubled the number of applicants in County Louth over the past year. There is no issue with that provided appropriate accommodation is provided for them, but the Government has lost us our only major hotel. The D Hotel will be gone for two years, causing untold harm and friction in our community, which is entirely unacceptable and has not been addressed by the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, specifically or by the Government. I have with me a report that was commissioned on the economic impact of losing the D Hotel in Drogheda. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is aware of it, as are the Taoiseach and other Ministers. This independent report from PMCA Economic Consulting calculates that losing our only hotel is a loss to our tourism industry and our wider economy in the order of more than €20 million over the two years. That is unacceptable.

We need an initiative. I welcome that the Minister for Justice is a frequent visitor to our town and that she is familiar with and has met many people there. The Taoiseach will visit shortly. Our town needs a lift after what has happened.

We need to ensure there is significant local benefit to our community as a result of losing our D Hotel. Along with that, we need transparency around the decision as to why we lost it and how we lost it. It concerns me that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is refusing to act in an appropriate way and to be accountable to this Oireachtas and the parliamentary questions I am putting in. He is obfuscating and not telling the truth about what is actually going on and what is the true cost.

The true cost appears to be that accommodation for IPAS applicants in private accommodation has gone from €34.99 per day in 2018 to €80 per day in 2024. To me, part of that is the reason. He signs up 500 beds in Drogheda - which could not possibly be put into the D Hotel and used - when in fact he is limited to 250. There is huge waste of money in what he is doing and as I said, there is no local economic benefit that is substantial or an equivalent increase in facilities. We have scores of people walking our town, day in, day out, with nowhere to go. They are in a hotel that has no recreational amenities. They walk the streets of our town and they are at a loss, as we are, as to why this was done when there is actually, I believe, no need to do it.

The failure of the Minister to provide State-owned accommodation is stark and absolutely unacceptable. The Government needs to ensure that State-owned accommodation is the order of the day, and it exits from all the private accommodation it has, and places people appropriately in State-owned accommodation. It will avoid the hassle and the conflict that is there at the moment and it would be fair to everybody if that was the case. It is also fair that around the country, each county stands up and plays its part. Louth is more than playing its part because the smallest county in Ireland is looking after - there is not an issue with this, if they were in the appropriate accommodation - more IPAS applicants living there than 22 counties that are all smaller than us in terms of physical size. We need to be fair. We are happy to play our part but other counties need to play a greater part, and that is where the reality of this issue lies.

I know I have only one and a half minutes left. We need a moratorium in Drogheda on any further contracts awarded in the town centre for private contracts. If further investment in private contractors in our town is allowed, that will create serious friction and problems that are exacerbated by the loss of our hotel, and the fact there is no equivalent local benefit to our community. If the Minister wants to have future prosperity for everybody, all of the communities need to be looked after and the pressure reduced on services that are being pressurised in Drogheda. In particular, I go back to the loss of our hotel which is and remains entirely unacceptable.

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