Asylum Seekers

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023

Tuesday, 7 November 2023

Questions (34)

Mattie McGrath

Question:

34. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline, in light of recent statements by members of Government in relation to the pressures currently being faced in terms of the level of people seeking refuge and asylum in this country, the plans his Department has to urgently address these high levels; to address the concerns in relation to the “pull factors” which may be leading to the high levels; his plans to impose further restrictions to reduce pressures on capacity; if he will outline the full level of expenditure by his Department on housing asylum seekers and refugees in this country from 1 January to 31 October; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48842/23]

Oral answers (10 contributions)

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I tabled this question last Thursday before the events transpired in Cashel. I want to ask the Minister about the current pressures on the numbers of asylum seekers entering this country. Recent statements were made by An Taoiseach and, indeed, by the Tánaiste in the last ten days, but more importantly the Taoiseach when he was in Korea. He spoke about the pressures we have here and the pull factor that is coming from other European countries where people are coming over here because they feel it is a nicer place and easier to get in and that there is more accommodation. I want the Minister to answer those questions and maybe include a response on the events in Cashel.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

The Government is committed to doing all it can to support all those seeking refuge in Ireland. As the Deputy said, there is significant pressure to find sufficient suitable accommodation for all who seek it. Ireland has provided accommodation to more than 99,000 people between those fleeing the war in Ukraine and international protection applicants. That compares to 8,300 people in early February 2022. Of those, 74,000 are beneficiaries of temporary protection who are fleeing the war in Ukraine, and a further 25,000 are international protection applicants.

In a situation where the availability of suitable accommodation for both Ukrainians and international protection applicants remains extremely challenging, suitable temporary contingency measures continue to be explored. My Department is aware that some types of accommodation, such as tented solutions, are far from ideal and we continue to work hard to find alternative solutions that provide shelter for all who need it.

I am aware of some of the recent commentary and media coverage referring to perceived pull factors that attract refugees to Ireland. It is important to state at the outset that clear and well-established rights to claim international protection are set out. They are binding in Ireland, all European countries and countries all over the world. There are also clear legal rights in terms of those who seek temporary protection fleeing the war in Ukraine. As a country, we have much to be proud of in terms of our response over the last 18 months. Ireland continues to keep its obligations, particularly under the temporary protection directive under review. As the Deputy knows, there is work ongoing across government right now looking at the scope of our offering under the temporary protection directive.

I will use some of my supplementary time to respond directly in terms of Cashel.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, for their engagement with us on Cashel over the weekend and particularly with me last night. We have done our fair share, of course we have. The Taoiseach is making these soundings as is the Tánaiste, but we all know we just cannot cope. Why did the Government feel it necessary to send out a tweet in numerous different languages to get people to come here?

We are certainly the land of the céad míle fáilte and we want to be, but when it came to Cashel especially, why displace our own homeless people by taking a hostel that is part of the Tipperary action plan for housing and for homeless people? The building is being used for that. Why is there not proper consultation? There is no consultation. Why is there not proper engagement? Surely the Minister should have checked with the county council whether it was using this facility, which it is. Now our unfortunate homeless people who were in that hostel and had been promised they could be there for the next number of weeks have all been moved out in advance of today's imminent arrival of 74 male applicants from we do not know where. It is has been very badly handled. The people are welcoming and Cashel people are welcoming, but they need to be engaged with, listened to and understood.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

I thank the Deputy. As we are on record, it is important to correct his point. I have never sent out a tweet inviting people to Ireland. At the time we published the White Paper we sent out tweets letting people know the changes that were being made, because as the Deputy knows there are a lot of people in the international protection process who wanted to see what changes were being made. We therefore informed them about the plans in the White Paper, but there was never any invite. That is a meme, a trope that dwells on the Internet, but it is not true.

With regard to Cashel, I have always made it very clear that even though our need to respond to the housing needs of international protection applicants and Ukrainians is extensive, we will never interfere with either existing social housing lists or existing processes in place to deal with homelessness here. Deputy McGrath and other Deputies have been in touch with me about the hostel in Cashel and we recognise there is an issue there. My officials are engaging with officials in Tipperary County Council. I hope to have clarity for Deputy McGrath and other Deputies tomorrow.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

We welcome that. We will not get back into the tweets and will leave them for another day, but I will get back into realpolitik. The Minister says his Department will not take away housing or shelters, but this is what is happening in Cashel. Officials from the Minister's Department told me they want accommodation and their duty is to get it from wherever, whoever and whatever, so we need to be very realistic. I salute the people who took Ukrainians into their houses and homes. It was the spirit of the meitheal and the welcoming Irish. However, this is a situation where greedy developers are buying up premises, some of which are in very bad condition, and getting a fortune. Some have got €15 million. Above all, we must have a cut-off measure as we cannot continue this. I am told 800 international applicants are coming in per week. We just cannot cope with that. We have 12,500 homeless ourselves and many of those are children. In this case in Cashel we have - I will not say "evicted" because it is too emotive a word - removed persons who were in the hostel. I know that one of them has mental health issues - she is a constituent of mine whom I helped- and had been hoping to be there for a number of weeks. There were many others. They have been moved out with no place to go.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

I thank the Deputy. Just to be clear, 800 international protection applicants are not arriving in the State every week.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

What is the number?

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

I think the most recent figure was about 325 per week and it was somewhere between 250 and 350 over the last number of weeks. At one point in recent weeks the number of Ukrainians arriving was 800, but it is important we get the figures right.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

It is.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

We are working closely with Tipperary County Council to resolve the issue in Cashel. As I have said, it is a core principle of our Department that regardless of how much pressure we are under to meet accommodation needs, we are not going to interfere with existing homelessness services. As I said, we are looking to resolve the particular issue in Cashel right now. Ireland, like every other European country and every other western country, is under pressure right now. There are wars across Asia and Africa. There are climate crises generating migration. We must have a system that is ready to respond to that. That is going to take reform of our system with respect to both the accommodation element and the processing element.