Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Last week, we all witnessed the devastating fire in Lesbos, which again brought into sharp focus conditions in the Moria camp, particularly for children. In light of the announcement yesterday by the Minister with responsibility for children, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, that Ireland will take four more unaccompanied children, it would be remiss of me to fail to point out that we, as a Government, are not doing enough. As the leader of a Government party in the Seanad, I wanted to make that statement. Humanitarian efforts are needed now more than ever, with democracies under threat and the devastating consequences of climate breakdown we will see over the next few years. Tusla has a deficit of €20 million and all of these unaccompanied minors will be brought under its care. I ask that the Government introduce an ongoing programme to provide proper funding over the next few years to bring more of these children under the care of the State.