Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for the response. I certainly agree with him on the need to move away from an emergency response and from a reliance on the private sector to provide accommodation for those seeking refuge, but we have seen no sign of urgency from Government on those two issues on which we agree. For far too long, we in Labour have been pressing the Taoiseach and the Government and, indeed, his predecessor as Taoiseach, to ensure that there will be a move from an emergency response, that there will be a cross-government co-ordinated approach, that the Department of integration will not be left with the entirety of the responsibility of providing shelter, and that we will see that joined-up thinking applied to the repurposing of State-owned land. I am glad to hear it is happening now but it is very late in the day. We need to see, really as a matter of urgency, the institution of the six Catherine Day sites as major reception integration centres. I am glad the Taoiseach confirmed one in Dublin will come onstream in the next few weeks. I hope that will also result in the removal of the barriers. I have been in correspondence with Waterways Ireland and its representatives have assured me they want to see the removal of the barriers too. They say they hope to start works sooner than October but they somewhat alarmingly suggested that it is unlikely they will be removed before October. Again, that is causing huge concern and disquiet. It is really not an appropriate response, particularly given that the Government had the Dr. Catherine Day report for so long and its own policy was announced in March. It is unacceptable that we are still seeing people camping in tents, being forced to stay in public spaces and then the fencing off of public spaces by way of response from Government. It is just not a sustainable response.

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