Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)

First and foremost, I want to address the issues we witnessed in Drogheda last week. It appears two thugs kicked in the front door, set light to the stairs and this resulted in 28 people being homeless. It resulted in eight people having to go to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital to seek treatment. Thankfully, none of those injuries were serious. However, let us put ourselves in the shoes of those people for those hours and the subsequent hours afterwards. These were people who were going about their ordinary Halloween business. There were decorations across the household. As a result of thuggery, they were put out of their home.

These people were IPAS applicants. They are waiting and biding their time to see if they have a right to remain in the State. Irrespective of whether they have a right to stay, they are going through a process that is based on rules. These rules have to be adhered to and respected. These people are ordinary human beings. For the time they remain in the State, it is absolutely necessary that we never lose sight of these people. That is what they are: people. They are human beings and they should be afforded every right and every respect as any other citizen or non-citizen would get while they reside in this State.

However, this is not just an isolated incident, unfortunately. This incident in Drogheda went to the extremes and could have cost life and limb of children, babies and women. However, because of certain discussions and commentary, some people are taking the law into their own hands. Recently in my constituency in County Louth, we had a situation where somebody went about their business photographing people who were actually seasonal workers. They were going about their business and had their visas. A house was targeted in which they did not even live. It was a family home where there were children who were absolutely terrified. We must have a discussion about immigration. We must have a discussion about IPAS but we must have a sensible, calm discussion. We have to accept there is a process in place and there are rules and laws by which we have to abide.

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