Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I welcome this debate on international protection but I am very conscious that it could be taking place in very different circumstances. The backdrop to these statements could, but for the grace of God, have been multiple fatalities as a result of the arson attack in Drogheda. I want to be unequivocal in stating that there can be absolutely no tolerance for racism or racist attacks. Nobody should be in fear for their safety or their children's safety. The message must go out loud and clear that racist attacks on any community or on those living in IPAS accommodation will not be tolerated. The attack in Drogheda was clearly a traumatic ordeal for those impacted, especially the small children involved. I commend the members of the emergency services who saved lives. I hope those who carried out this and similar attacks are brought before the courts and held to account for their crimes.

I also want to be clear in stating there is no contradiction in condemning such racist attacks and also raising concerns about Government mismanagement of immigration generally or the international protection system specifically. The former is abhorrent and unacceptable; the latter is entirely legitimate. In fact, criticisms of Government handling of these matters are not just acceptable but well founded because the international protection system, in particular, is dysfunctional. That is not the fault of those applying for asylum; it is the fault of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which have made a mess of a system that continues to operate in crisis mode. Decisions on international protection applications are taking too long, as are appeals, and deportations are not enforced. All the while, there is massive profiteering from the provision of often inappropriate IPAS accommodation.

On migration, the Government makes decisions without any consideration of the consequences and with no plan to deal with those consequences. For example, the Government signed up earlier this year to an extension of the temporary protection directive in respect of Ukrainians. There was no consideration of numbers, costs, capacity or other implications in terms of Ukrainians coming to Ireland. The Minister did not even bring the matter to the Dáil for debate, let alone approval, and now he scampers along, making decisions on the hoof and playing catch-up with the Government's lack of forethought. Equally, the decision by the Government to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact in its entirety is a mistake. It undermines Irish sovereignty and binds us to EU rules that will not take into account our unique circumstances, including that we are part of a common travel area with a state outside the EU. In a week when the Government is citing EU law as an obstacle to implementing contributions to accommodation costs for international protection applicants in asylum and trying to blame EU law for housing delays, it is bizarre that it has yet to realise that tying us into an EU framework that will not only tie the Minister's hands but also the hands of future Ministers is the wrong approach.

There has been a lot of focus on the international protection system, and rightly so. It is a broken system. I have been clear and unapologetic in stating that it has failed local communities and raised divisions and tensions. It has not worked for those communities that have lost local amenities such as hotels and have been given no additional supports by way of investment in health services, educational services or gardaí. The approach of locating IPAS centres in areas based on the single criterion of there being a building owned by someone prepared to provide it for that purpose is the wrong one. It has stripped many communities - working-class communities, in particular - of any sense of agency or being part of the decisions that shape their own areas. It is long past time to end the planning exemption for IPAS and Ukrainian accommodation and ensure a proper system of community engagement in order that communities are part of the decisions that affect them.

We also need to be clear that this dysfunctional system is not working for those fleeing war or persecution. Housing people in communities that are already under pressure does not serve them well. Placing people in accommodation that is often substandard, without fire certificates and without access to the services they need does not serve them well. Forcing people to wait years for applications to be processed does not serve them well. Alongside the pressures this clearly puts on the system, it feeds into the overall sense that the system is broken.

It is still taking far too long for decisions to be made. For those who appeal, the mean processing time is over 2.5 years. That is failure and inefficiency writ large. Even for the so-called accelerated procedure, the overall processing time, including appeals, is 15 months. That is not good enough. While there has been an increase in staff in the international protection system, there is still a vacancy rate of more than 10%. All this means that those awaiting decisions are left in limbo for far longer than they should be. It also means some who will ultimately be adjudicated not to have an entitlement to be in Ireland are holding up accommodation while others who are fleeing war and persecution are rendered homeless.

The international protection system is also not working for the taxpayer, which is picking up the tab for an ever-increasing bill for accommodation while those providing the accommodation make fortunes. IPAS alone is projected to cost €1.2 billion this year, with virtually no transparency and zero accountability. How and why has it been allowed to get to this point? Is it just part of the wider failures we have come to expect from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments? Is it just Government incompetence? The system is working for some people. It is working for those who have become millionaires on the back of the provision of IPAS accommodation. This is a scandal of which we have only barely scratched the surface. For months, I have been calling for a full review of all IPAS contracts granted. The Minister has refused. The system is also working for those companies that gain access to often low-paid, non-unionised and vulnerable workers. These are companies that would not be eligible to get work permits. The system fails the applicants, the communities and the taxpayer but it is benefiting a brand new golden circle.

How very Fianna Fáil.

Sinn Féin is clear. We have to have a managed immigration policy, one that recognises the value of those who come here but also recognises the challenges in capacity, housing and public services and the ability to integrate. On international protection, it is clear we need a rules-based system, where applications are processed in a timely manner, where those found to have a genuine need for international protection are supported to integrate and where those who are not entitled to be here leave or are deported. It is in everyone's interest that the State manages immigration properly. That means managing international protection, work permits and economic migration and those entering the State as tourists and as students and it means ensuring the very small minority who abuse an Irish welcome by becoming involved in criminality are quickly deported. All of that is a basic necessity of proper governance. Instead, we have had a litany of Government failures.

Those failures were crystalised for many by the horrendous recent events at Citywest. It would be a huge mistake for this House to ignore the widespread public anger about what happened to the young girl in this instance. Those who engaged in the violent disorder afterwards, trapped people in their homes and attacked gardaí must be condemned, but that should not allow us to disregard the genuine fury over what happened. What happened was a result of catastrophic failures by the State, in terms of both keeping a vulnerable child safe and ensuring somebody not entitled to be here had left the State.

The questions hanging over Tusla remain unanswered. How does a ten-year-old girl go missing without the public being informed? How the hell does Tusla get away with issuing a statement that essentially blamed the child for Tusla's failure and talked about absconding as if describing a violent criminal? How is this the latest of a series of Tusla failures and yet the Government will not acknowledge that there is a systemic problem in that body? An equally valid question is how someone enters the international protection system, remains in it for six years, receives a deportation order and yet remains in this State to be charged with such a heinous crime. Above all, the question people want answered is whether the Government can give an assurance this will not happen again.

The problem with deportation orders is that the Government is not enforcing them. More than anything, that has led to the undermining of people's confidence in the IPAS system. Yes, more deportation orders have been signed but today, the Minister does not know whether the vast majority of those subject to deportations have left or remain in the State. In 2024, for example, there were 2,403 deportation orders but only 156 confirmed deportations. That is a ratio of 6.5%. While there have been a number of high-profile deportation flights, there is no evidence of whether the wider enforcement in the system has improved.

Across the international protection system, we know changes need to be made in ensuring decisions are made quickly and enforced, including deportation orders, and in bringing the obscene profiteering to an end. Sinn Féin has set them out time and time again. Instead of Simon Harris, Micheál Martin or even the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, speaking as if they were passing commentators, we need the Government to make the changes we have outlined once and for all.

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