Results 1-20 of 70 for "direct provision" speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Accommodation for International Protection Applicants: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2024)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...is either part of the solution or part of the problem, and I do not think the Minister is part of the problem. I think he is part of the solution. He came into government with a fair-minded view of direct provision, namely, to get rid of it and to nationalise it, as it was, and not be dependent on the private sector. I applaud him for that vision, and I think that if it were not for the...

Recent Arson Attacks: Statements (27 Feb 2024)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ..., a petrol bomb was thrown into a premises earmarked for refugees, setting part of it on fire. Last December, the former Great Southern Hotel in Rosslare, County Wexford, which was being developed into a direct provision centre, was the victim of a suspected arson attack. Soon afterwards, the Ross Lake Hotel, Galway, was set alight, and we know what happened in Ringsend, Dublin. This...

Immigration: Motion [Private Members] (6 Dec 2023)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...level as part of the development of a new National Integration Strategy, and hold open workshops in local communities across the country; — deliver on the recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group on ending Direct Provision; — roll out dedicated information campaigns to inform communities of what actions the State is taking, of the positive aspects of migration, and to...

Autism Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (29 Jun 2022)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...families in Dublin 15 and I know the families in my constituency. Rather than accept that as a problem to which we all must find a solution, we first had the warehousing proposal, effectively a direct provision proposal for children with special educational needs. Then the Minister of State decided at the weekend to isolate and name four DEIS schools as the problem, all of which are...

Special Educational Needs School Places: Motion [Private Members] (14 Jun 2022)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...responsibility for special education. There are temperate, mild-mannered lobby groups and NGOs working in this system and area all the time that are horrified by the warehousing that is effectively a direct provision approach to special educational needs. It is as if the Ministers are stunned we are in the month of June because they could not predict it. Allied to this is the fact those...

European Union Regulation: Motion (3 Feb 2022)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...Green Party in government, it could have been much more generous. Last year my colleague Deputy Duncan Smith questioned the Department of Justice regarding the status of refugees and asylum seekers in direct provision and raised the potential for an amnesty to give these applicants citizenship in order to alleviate many of the very serious issues they face and enable those people to find...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: .... I am sure the Minister will be getting a lot of correspondence in that regard. The Minister also referred to the issue regarding UL, which is fair enough. He also responded to the issue about direct provision. That is fair enough as well. My final question concerns strategic housing developments and the Minister's view of it. I have noted his comment about objections, etc. One of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2019)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...Government. The reason I have changed my view on the very existence of this House was because of how everybody here at the time and since has come together with one voice to speak on the issue of direct provision. What happened in Oughterard was a disgrace on the political side. We have an opportunity in this House to stand together and show a different side of Irish politics. I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...to a newspaper. The Minister for Justice and Equality should address the House on this issue. If it happened to Ellie Kisyombe, it could happen to anybody who seeks public office or anybody in the direct provision system who wishes to speak about the conditions in or the reality of that system. In recent years, this House has had a proud cross-party tradition, regardless of political...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018: Second Stage (21 Nov 2018)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...save the day on an individual basis. What disappoints me most is that this is happening despite the Seanad having been really progressive, across all parties, Government parties included, on issues such as direct provision and advocating for the rights of undocumented workers. All of us have collectively called out the hypocrisy of going to the White House and advocating for undocumented...

Seanad: Reception Conditions Directive: Motion (23 Jan 2018)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...will be a State apology for those who have been languishing in the system for a long time. It has come from that. Something needs to be done. The strongest voices in Irish society on the issue of direct provision were in this very Chamber, right across the political divide. What upsets me is that the reaction to what needed to happen came from a Supreme Court judgment. It did not come...

Seanad: Direct Provision: Statements (4 Oct 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...I wish to inform the House that on the anniversary of the election of Donald Trump, 8 November, in Liberty Hall, there will be an event called Irish Stand, raising funds directly for young people in direct provision. There is a youth project with which the Irish Refugee Council is involved which is in danger of closure. Performers including Senator Frances Black and others will be...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jul 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...díospóireacht sin againn anseo. Ba chóir go rachaidh sé ar aghaidh ar feadh dhá uair a chloig ar a laghad, mar a dúirt an Seanadóir féin. My last point is to support what Senator Bacik said about the recent report on conditions for children in direct provision. It is a matter of pride to this House that Members, collectively and across parties,...

Seanad: Migrant Integration Strategy: Statements (16 May 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...system began chasing after the people. I found it quite discouraging but then encouraging. When I held the Minister of State's position, there was no issue that Senators raised more often than direct provision and no issue on which I worked harder. I would love to be the person to declare the end of direct provision. However, when we are dealing with it, we have to work beyond slogans...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 Feb 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...a campaigning zeal in it. It is an issue I raised directly with the Taoiseach when he was last in this House and I am aware the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, is working steadily on it, namely, direct provision. This is not a divisive issue in this House. In fact, it is not a divisive issue in this Parliament. It is to our great credit as an Oireachtas that we do not have any...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...world were slow in being as welcoming as she was. We in this House have a responsibility to work on a cross-party basis to ensure we will implement the recommendations made in the McMahon report on direct provision. We now have an opportunity to sort out our own house. We can say to the rest of the world that we are an emigrant nation, that we understand intimately the needs of...

Seanad: Address by An Taoiseach (Resumed) (29 Sep 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...and Mac Lochlainn and I, who work on the Traveller ethnicity issue, hope to get good co-operation from the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton. However, I must ask the Taoiseach about the issue of direct provision and my contribution will be solely on that issue. In this House, when I was Minister of State, there was uniformity of opinion on the issue of direct provision. I see Senator...

Seanad: Immigration (Reform) (Regularisation of Residency Status) Bill 2016: Second Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...officials from the Department with whom I worked. One of the reasons I changed my mind about the validity of this Chamber - which Senator Norris will be delighted to hear - relates to the issue of direct provision. When I was Minister of State, it was the collective will of the people in this Chamber that something should be done about the issue. I was greatly impressed by the...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...House on a number of occasions as the Minister of State and what impressed me most about it was when it stood as and spoke with one voice. The House was never more powerful than on the issue of direct provision. I believe that Members of this House will know, regardless of their political background, that this House was very impressive and managed to move that debate onto a higher...

Seanad: Direct Provision: Motion (27 Jan 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...of general elections nor does it become a feature of the political discourse at that difficult time for candidates. I believe that is appropriate and I hope we can hold on to that. The term direct provision describes the system whereby the State directly provides accommodation and other ancillary needs for those who apply for asylum in Ireland. When an applicant presents himself or...