Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leat, a Chathaoirligh, agus le d'fhoireann in Oifig an tSeanaid as ucht an comóradh an-speisialta a bhí againn ar an Luan. Ba chóir dom buíochas a ghabháil freisin maidir leis na heachtraí eile a bhain le comóradh 100 bliain de Sheanad Éireann a bhí ar siúl i rith na bliana, go háirithe na hiarrachtaí ar son mhná an tSeanaid. I pay special tribute to the Cathaoirleach, particularly as he will be moving into a different position on Friday. I wish to acknowledge the work that has been done to remember and commemorate the 100 years of the Seanad, particularly in highlighting how few women have passed through the Seanad over the past 100 years in regard to the portraits and the celebration of women. I want to acknowledge that. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his work on that.

I am conscious that this is probably my last contribution to the Order of Business before the end of the year. It is incredible to think that ten months on from 24 February, the savage war in Ukraine is still going with no end in sight. Millions of people are being forced to live in sub-zero temperatures, in deprived conditions without heat and electricity. We heard one of the Ukrainian members of parliament speaking this morning about the appalling conditions. Ukraine is on all our minds. Inevitably over the past few months we were distracted with other issues but we cannot lose sight of this continuing war in Europe. It is clear from the number of people who have come to this country, and in particular from speaking to Ukrainian parliamentarians, that Ireland has a good record of extending the welcome. We have encountered massive issues in accommodating so many people. In the current freezing conditions, Ukrainian refugees and people from other countries are living in tents in this country. This is an appalling indictment of a failure to plan for what we knew was going to be a massive surge. We have been talking about modular housing and preparing for thousands of refugees for many months now, as far back as March and April, but we still do not have proper provision in place.

I am conscious that the protests in East Wall are ongoing. There has been a counter-response from people in the local community who do not want their community to be slurred. The north inner city is under enormous strain at the moment due to the shortage of housing and other services. We want to make sure that those who are extremely vulnerable are being welcomed. In that regard the Dublin City Community Co-Op issued a report this morning with its recommendations from the front line. It is engaging with all the various groups in the inner city about how we need to respond to the significant number of refugees on our shores and within our communities. First, it reports that education and training boards across the country have significant waiting lists throughout the country for English-language classes. If we do not get the availability of classes right, we will entrench people’s sense of remoteness. Second, the report also refers to training and employment. We all know we have a shortage of construction workers at the moment yet there are difficulties for refugees in accessing manual handling and Safe Pass courses. Third, the report refers to accommodation, staffing and training. We are entrenching the privatisation of supports in direct provision and in the new facilities being set up for refugees. There is inconsistency with regard to how people are treated in these facilities. We need to have those services professionalised and in public hands as opposed to lining the pockets of some security companies and hotels.