Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Part of Citywest Hotel is now a holding or detention centre for those awaiting deportation. Is there a coherent policy? Are those awaiting deportation at IPAS centres allowed to roam free or are they locked into hotel rooms 24 hours a day? If detainees are held pre-deportation or pending prison transfer, that means the role of the centre is not purely accommodation; it is quasi-detention. Is using an hotel as a detention centre legal? It likely falls outside of the hotel emergency reception exemption and will be considered an unauthorised development unless retrospective planning permission is granted.

We also know for a fact that there has been no public consultation on safety and security protocols or an impact assessment on Citywest and, I presume, around the country. What is the plan for these situations? Obviously, it is inhumane to send families who have been in Ireland for a very long time back to other countries. This is why we need to dramatically speed up the process. Equally, there are people who do not have leave to remain who will forcibly resist any efforts to get them to leave. Should these people be roaming free in local communities?

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