Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)

A local headline in Drogheda today reads, "28 people could have died", following the horrific arson attack on the George's Street IPAS accommodation centre. If it had not been for the swift intervention of An Garda Síochána and Drogheda fire services, families and children, including a three-week-old baby, would not have escaped with their lives. One family had no way out of the top-floor room in which they were trapped other than by going down the stairs that were ravaged with flames. Concerns have been raised about safety standards in this building and indeed about the private operators. We have here a rogue landlord prioritising profit over duty of care and human life, aided by the Government not meeting its obligations. There are no published reports of inspections of direct provision or EROC centres in County Louth, including this building, for 2025. The Government has paid millions of euro for asylum seeker accommodation to a company which is owned by a man who has been linked by the Criminal Assets Bureau to the Drogheda gang feud. Recent media reports suggest that the owner of this company, Secure Accommodation Management, has been paid €10.2 million since it was set up in September 2022. Indeed, the then Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth highlighted its huge profits for 2023. It terrifies me that gangsters named by CAB are securing contracts and profiteering on public money. As a result of this, 28 people could have died on the Government's watch. What is the Minister going to do about it?

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