Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish Senator Norris all the best. It is great to hear that the operations he has gone through over the past month have been successful. I wish him a speedy recovery.

I agree with Senator Sherlock that it is important that we use proper names when talking about variants. We all know what they are and we do not want to label people, so that is important.

What I want to talk about predominantly is the White Paper announced today on direct provision. This is an historic day for us and we should all mention this. We have had a little over 21 years of a system that is inhumane, and we all know that at this stage as it has been called out so many times. We are now, finally, putting in place a plan, and there has to be a plan to see how we are going to achieve that. It is really progressive and is something I know the Government is fully behind, but I hope it is something all of the Opposition are also behind.

The Green Party is well known for its environmental stances. What people do not realise is that all around the world, particularly in Europe, Green parties call out human rights abuses and work to actually make the change. That is why we went into government and we fundamentally would not have gone into government unless this was in the programme for Government.It was a red line issue for us. We must see an end to direct provision within the lifetime of this Government. We all recognise we have waited for it for too long.

In my constituency in Galway, people will know people whose children cannot visit other children in their homes because they live in a centre. Children cannot bring friends to what are supposed to be homes. They are not homes but are for-profit facilities which are inhumane. There have been occasions when people have spoken up about this. It is very difficult for people who live in a for-profit system to speak up against the system. They have described the food being given to them as being the very cheapest kind. Changes have been made in that regard but we need to ensure there is an end to direct provision, that we provide state-of-the-art not-for-profit new builds and that people remain there for no longer than four months before moving on to own-door accommodation. That is what is in this White Paper. I refer to vulnerability assessments and ask whether more things need to be put in place for people who are often fleeing very dangerous situations. Most people in direct provision are women but there is also a large number of children. Particular supports need to be put in place for these individuals. I welcome the White Paper. By working together we can achieve something which we have been calling for for many years.