Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the distressing images of rows of tents on Sandwith Street and around Mount Street. The practice of giving refugees, asylum seekers and people seeking international protection a voucher and then leaving them effectively homeless leaves them subject to hostile scrutiny. They are in a public space and gathering together for safety. It plays into the hands of xenophobic and right-wing groups. As a Parliament, we have to take action to stop this from developing into an international news story. I am also disturbed by the images and distressing news reports from Inch in County Clare. Basically, there are communities that have not been communicated with and had no consultation. It brings them out and they show fear. I heard some of the refugees speak very movingly this morning, saying that they are decent people. There is a gulf of misunderstanding created by the circumstances of not sufficiently providing for them. With that, I heard the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, yesterday on "Morning Ireland" under pressure. He is a decent man and his integrity shines through, but he needs support.

The Government distributed an emergency booklet to every house back in the noughties. It defines an emergency as something, whether it be man-made or natural, that overwhelms local resources. We are in a perfect storm at the moment. In respect of refugees, it is not a crisis; it is an emergency. It fits the Government’s own definition of such.

I want to be constructive. All round the country we have barracks. We have Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines and McKee Barracks on Blackhorse Avenue in Dublin 7, which are city-centre located. We have the same in Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa in Galway, Collins Barracks in Cork and Custume Barracks in Athlone. We could put hardstands in there for people to have their tents in safety and security. In addition to that security, in all of those barracks, there are dozens of accommodation blocks. They were designed for a rapid mobilisation and an increase in numbers. Instead of people being in tents on the street, where they are highly visible and subject to all this hostile scrutiny, they could be in the barracks. It would be easy to cordon a barracks off and keep it safe. They could have the dignity of being able to sleep in a tent in a secure environment. They could also go to the accommodation blocks in the mornings, have a shower, use the toilets and go out with dignity into a nearby town, city or wherever. Some of them will very shortly be able to seek employment.

We did this previously. In 1992, when there was a homeless crisis in Dublin and a harsh winter the Defence Forces took homeless people off the streets over the winter to alleviate the problem as a short-term measure. We did it during the crisis after the incidents in the early 1970s in Northern Ireland, where the Defence Forces took in hundreds of refugees from Northern Ireland as a temporary measure to alleviate the crisis. We could do that now in the summer without any real costs to the State. Those resources could be mobilised by the Defence Forces within seven to ten days. It could be a quick fix to alleviate the crisis. The agency, the national steering group, is the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Department has a pre-existing national steering group and a secretariat to support the mobilisation of these resources.

I ask my Fine Gael, Green Party and Fianna Fáil colleagues, please, at their parliamentary party meetings tonight, to suggest this to the people who can make those decisions. These young people who are coming here for protection deserve our protection and support.