Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Ar dtús báire ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis as an méid oibre atá déanta aige agus ag a Roinn ar an ábhar seo. It is extraordinary, in all the circumstances we have, to have achieved what we have achieved in accommodating those coming into the State looking for assistance, protection, asylum or whatever word one wants to put on it.Obviously, the ordinary person seeking international protection is different from a Ukrainian. The numbers of Ukrainians who have come here have, in and of themselves, swamped a system that simply has not been equipped to deal with them. Even in the ordinary international protection system, I think we have done a good job, but there is no doubt that there are cracks in the system at this stage. I recognise that there are concerns in local communities about how we are going to continue accommodating those people. My view is that we need to do absolutely everything we can.

I would welcome the Minister's clarification in this respect, but I do not agree with comments that we are not obliged to take everybody who comes here seeking asylum. My understanding is that under international law we are obliged to do so. If somebody comes here seeking international asylum, we must assess their case. Not everybody will qualify for it under the process of looking for international protection. In those circumstances, the consequences are clear that they should be deported to the country from which they came. However, many people come here with legitimate cases and fears. I have been in many forums, including national media, where it has been said that people could not possibly be seeking international protection from Albania or Georgia. Depending on what part of the community one is from, or one's sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity within that country, it might be absolutely justified. I make no comment one way or the other.

There is a notion creeping into our psyche that people coming here seeking international protection are not genuine, or are not entitled to it. In fact the vast majority of them are. We have international legal obligations to abide by that system whereby we take them in and assess their case. Assuming that they qualify for international protection, we look after them and give them the protection they require and deserve. I believe we have done that, but in order to do it properly we need to hugely bulk up the system that processes those applications. There is a fundamental unfairness in the notion that somebody who comes here from an acknowledged war zone, or a country where their particular circumstances put them at risk, has to spend so much time waiting for the application process to run its course. During that time they put down roots and ultimately it may be that those roots are torn up again if they fail in their application. If they are to be deported after their application fails, it should happen quickly. That is the fairest thing for them, as well as for the people seeking international protection who are qualified for it.

I acknowledge the work that has been done, especially given the week that is in it. This time last year, nobody would have thought for a moment that we would have managed to accommodate the number of people we have accommodated. As I said at a previous Commencement debate with the Minister, he is somebody with a genuine stake in this. He is interested in protecting people and is interested in solving this problem. He has compassion and understanding for the people coming here, and I want to acknowledge that. I have raised the issue of racism. My concern is that, as a Government, we are allowing a vacuum to develop, which is being filled by nefarious people with absolutely the wrong idea about what is happening in this country. We are allowing a situation to develop whereby certain people are peddling a narrative that somehow these people are not entitled to be here, should not be here and are not our neighbours in humanity, when in fact they are.

One of the myths being propagated by those people is that Irish people are not getting houses because of people from other countries coming here seeking our protection. I would again be grateful if the Minister could confirm this, but my understanding is that there is not a single person on a housing list who has not been allocated a house because of an international protection applicant. That is an important message because the contrary is all over the Internet. I hear people in public, throughout the country and in my own area saying that so-and-so could not get a house because an international protection applicant got it. In no uncertain terms, that is a lie. There are people propagating it without knowing it is a lie, but it is the job of us all, and also the Government, to make sure people know it is not correct. My concern is that if we do not mobilise a public information campaign to tell people that certain information is wrong, we will allow a vacuum to emerge, which will be filled by all the worst elements of our society.