Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

What we saw in the attack on the IPAS accommodation in Georges Street in Drogheda was nothing short of attempted murder. We saw somebody put flammable liquid on the stairs and five people had to be rescued - one adult and four children, one of them a very young infant. Somebody was willing to go in around 8.15 p.m. on Hallowe'en, break through the door and burn what could have been 28 people to death. That is the reality of what was done. It could have been the deaths of 28 human beings. The only escape for them was down the stairs.

There are questions about the appropriateness of the building.

My constituency colleague has brought up the issue of some of the people who have been involved in IPAS offering IPAS accommodation. Really and truly, I do not think any of this is good enough. We need anyone with any bit of information to provide it to the Garda. That is the only thing that is right. We need to make sure that the full power of the law is felt in this regard. Beyond that, we must ask what sort of world we are in. I also saw comments that this must be an inside job. Facts do not even matter any more in the commentary. There is just utter online hatred and online racism and beyond that there is an element of madness out there. At the end of the day what we saw was an attempt to take human life. We need to ensure that those people are prosecuted and give whatever resources the Garda require need to be provided. My thoughts go out to the families who have been through that.

This does not take away from the fact that this State, like every other state, needs to have a system. We should have a greater level of State-provided accommodation for those seeking international protection. We also need to make sure that the process is sped up. Decisions and appeals are taking too long. If someone has a right to stay here because they are fleeing war and persecution, that is fine. If they are not, they must leave. We need to ensure that our deportation system is conducted correctly. Outside of that we need to make sure we stand up against racism-----

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