Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I am pleased to be back after a short absence due to illness. I am delighted to be back. I tried many times to have debates here in the previous Dáil and I was denied. I too want to condemn the attack in Drogheda. Actions like that are totally reprehensible and cannot be condoned. Let me be absolutely clear: Ireland's international protection system is broken. The Tánaiste himself admitted that it is not working. The Taoiseach echoed that sentiment. They have been on some road to Damascus there. My goodness; I never saw anything like it. It is astonishing for those of us who have been calling out the broken system for almost three years now, including Deputy Carol Nolan, me and others, to hear these sentiments by the Government now. We have been abused, heckled and shouted down by all sides of this House, called racist and far right and accused of creating division or undermining social cohesion. Yet, here we are now. The Government has caught up with our understanding and concerns. Maybe the spoiled votes in the election had something to do with that. It is a bit late. As I said, it is a road to Damascus situation. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We will see by its actions.

More than 80% of asylum claims are found to be false. That is not a system under pressure; it is a system being exploited shamefully. What is worse is that many individuals remain in Ireland even after receiving deportation orders. There is no accountability. This is totally unacceptable. I accept that deportation orders have increased. However, when a person has been ordered to leave, they must leave.

Let us take the case of Tipperary. From top to bottom the céad míle fáilte in Tipperary is well known, from the top of Tipperary right down to Rathcabbin. What happened in Roscrea was appalling. It is appalling what is still going on in Dundrum House Hotel . Hearns Hotel in Clonmel and many other buildings were taken over. These were hotels that the economy depended on for tourism. Many local people were working in them. If you say anything you are told to be quiet. What is going on in Dundrum is absolutely shambolic. The Taoiseach was in Clonmel before the election to open the office of then Councillor Michael Murphy. He met Ms Crowe and Ms O'Dwyer who explained to him what is happening. He seemed to listen. Then they were decried and the riot squad was sent in. So much force was deployed on communities that were totally non-violent. Anybody who came there trying to create trouble was hunted. It was the same in Roscrea. The way An Garda Síochána was used was shocking. Now we are left in a heap in Roscrea. A section 5 is due for adjudication in the High Court which has gone on and on and deferred. Meanwhile, another section 5 has been submitted. Now the council has referred it to An Coimisiún Pleanála. We know what it is doing. It will facilitate the making of Dundrum House Hotel, leisure resort and golf course into an IPAS centre. That is being facilitated by the Minister and the Government. The nod and wink system is alive and well in big business. A lot of money is being paid to rogue developers who would not be interested in housing people. They are only interested in their póca, their pockets. We should cut the funding they are getting by two-thirds. Ordinary people will want to help asylum seekers, not greedy people who are not nice. The people who own that place in Drogheda are not nice either. A lot of investigation is needed into this. Books will be written about this and there will be huge investigations in years to come and we will have to hang our heads in shame. It is a broken system. The Government is only playing catch-up. I do not think it really wants to fix it.

See this speech in context