Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I suppose there are many greats in Irish sport but there is none greater than Katie Taylor, and there is no greater achievement than hers last weekend. Our hearty congratulations go to her from this House.

I wish to voice a concern shared by many others. It relates to the decision to use student accommodation to house Ukrainian refugees during the summer months. I understand the difficulties faced by the Government in housing and providing for the people we have taken in, and how it would not sit well to have bedsits empty while there are those in need of them. I understand how this idea came about. However, the obvious concern, which is in the minds of many, relates to what will happen in September. The Minister, Deputy Harris, said the accommodation is to be made available in the short term to allow time for other options to be availed of. If that happens and everything goes without a hitch, it will be wonderful. However, we have never had to look too far in this country to see short-term solutions that have lingered long past their due date. That, of course, is simply not an option here.

The apprehension is that if things do not all go according to plan and long-term accommodation is not found for everyone who needs it, the Government, a university or other body will be put in the position of having to evict refugees from student housing, or students who have paid for their housing will not be able to use it as it is occupied. Either way, the Government may well have to put the Irish people and our resident Ukrainians on a public-opinion collision course. Already we have seen a significant amount of public discourse on the concerted efforts of the Government to house the refugees we have taken in, which contrasts with the apparent lack of a similar effort in addressing the homelessness crisis.The prevailing question is: if the Government can do that for them, why can it not do it for us? A them-and-us mentality is the last thing we need in this situation but I fear that this decision on student accommodation may end up pushing us in the wrong direction. At this stage it is too late to go back on the decision but my warning to the Government is that it had better have a long-term solution ready on time. Otherwise, in five months we could find ourselves in a very sticky situation