Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Since Deputy Harris became Taoiseach, there has been a dominant message from this Government trying to make the lives of international protection applicants as miserable as possible. The Government has announced plans to cut their meagre allowances and to charge them to stay in institutional settings. The Minister's Department is enforcing transfers from international protection applicant accommodation, thereby uprooting adults and children who have integrated into local communities. Meanwhile, efforts to evict people who have leave to remain from direct provision accommodation have been stepped up. The Taoiseach is now attempting to blame the very people who have been failed by the Government, the people the Minister just acknowledged, for the homelessness crisis. The cynical scrapping of the incitement to hatred laws can also be added to the list.

The Minister has not provided the promised State-run reception and integration centres we so desperately need. He has to decide whether he is happy to stand over the Taoiseach comments blaming migrants for the homelessness crisis. Will the Minister clarify if he does stand over those comments? What does he have to say about the matter?

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