Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Regarding the State's requirement to have a number of large-scale IPAS centres, I see the logic of the State trying to buy somewhere rather than pay rent. I believe, however, that such centres need to be purpose-built rather than trying to call a former hotel a suitable campus. I mentioned this to the Taoiseach before. Obviously, we are a welcoming country and many people are fleeing persecution and need our support. Equally, as I pointed out, there are economic migrants abusing the asylum process and these people need to be processed very quickly. Unfortunately, it is taking far too long. If it was not taking so long, we would not need so many IPAS centres. It should take six months for people to be in and out of the process and for a decision to be made that they are welcome because they are fleeing persecution or - and they might be the nicest people in the world - told "sorry, we do not have the capacity". This is what we are requiring.

In terms of this specific location, I am a bit worried about some of the words used, such as there being "no immediate plans to increase the capacity of this site". Reading through that after today's announcement is like hearing it will be increased down the line. There are also issues concerning the "good relationships and operational partnerships in the community". Yes, there have been very good relationships, but there have also been issues of overcrowding in the past and reports of incidents of antisocial behaviour. Saggart does not have sufficient GP services or proper Garda services. In any type of consultation, the first things to be asked include what GP levels, education facilities, types of support and leisure activities are being planned to be on site. All these things should be considered in the discussion before any purchase goes through. While there are no current plans to get rid of the leisure centre and the gym, equally, there is no opportunity for a long-term vision to repurpose this as a major hotel and conference centre again, something that was very valuable to south-west Dublin in the past and I believe should be once again.

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