Maura Hopkins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like the community in Ballaghaderreen, I want to be proactive and constructive in supporting the people concerned. The group to be established, headed by an official from the Irish Refugee Protection Programme and tasked with bringing together all local service providers, will be important in ensuring proper communication and planning. My visit to the Monasterevin centre last week was very productive and helpful. We need to learn from what is happening in the centres in Monasterevin and Dungarvan. There will always be a need to improve. What I learned from my visit to the Monasterevin centre was that we could not make assumptions about what the people concerned needed. It must be based on individual assessment. As the Minister of State rightly said, they will need time to acclimatise, relax and put their lives back together following their horrendous and horrific experiences. For my part, I will work closely with the Minister of State, the Tánaiste and departmental officials to ensure we do our best such that the centre in Ballaghaderreen will be seen as a good example in this regard. Ballaghaderreen is already multicultural and people living there want to be seen as a good example in reaching out and supporting those who need our help.