Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 February 2024
79. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide details of what audits are being carried out in areas where his Department has taken the decision to place refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9685/24]
View answerDue to Government failure to ensure proper amenities and services are put in place, many communities right across the State are under huge pressure. What audits are carried out of community services and amenities by the Minister, his Department or other Departments before the placement of refugees or asylum seekers in a particular area?
Between those fleeing Ukraine and international protection applicants, my Department is now providing accommodation for more than 100,000 people. As I have said before, this is the largest humanitarian response the State has ever undertaken. My Department is utilising a wide range of accommodation options to provide shelter for a record number of international protection applicants. More than 200 accommodation locations across 26 counties have been utilised since January 2022. The accommodation of international protection applicants is a demand-led process. Applicants arriving in the country have to be accommodated.
Provision of accommodation, health, education, income and other supports, as appropriate, is made for both those arriving from Ukraine and international protection applicants. This is an ongoing focus of our work and an all-of-government approach is taken to it. That whole-of-government approach involves various Departments and agencies. Within my Department, we have created a community engagement team to engage directly with Oireachtas Members, county councillors and communities to provide information about new accommodation being opened and answer queries.
In regard to procuring accommodation for Ukrainians, who are beneficiaries of temporary protection, my Department meets frequently with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and Fáilte Ireland, to gain an understanding of where the pressures are on accommodation and to ensure we can be as effective as possible in terms of where we are procuring additional accommodation.
The Government is very much focused on how to continue to provide sustained support for those fleeing the war in Ukraine. We have made significant changes to our offerings and are in the process of implementing those changes. We are moving to a system of State-provided accommodation for a 90-day period, during which time the income supports will be less than they currently are. On the international protection side, I will be bringing forward a revised accommodation strategy. This will primarily allow for better standards of accommodation, better value for money and, importantly, better planning in terms of where we locate new international protection accommodation.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Unfortunately, he failed to answer the specific question. He stated that his Department met Fáilte Ireland regularly, but he did not address the serious issues facing communities across the State. For example, more than 100 Ukrainians have been placed in Carnew in my constituency of Wicklow, but there is only a part-time GP service with waiting times of two to three weeks. That waiting list has grown even longer. There is a crisis in school places and a shortage of teachers and classrooms. This situation is replicated in Donegal and Roscommon.
What audits have been carried out to assess where the deficiencies are? When those deficiencies are identified and before the placement of international protection applicants or Ukrainians in communities, what actions are being taken to rectify them or put in place the services that are needed, not just to meet increased demand in communities, but to ensure that locals, who were under considerable pressure before additional people arrived in their communities, can be addressed also?
When new accommodation is opened for Ukrainians or international protection applicants, the community engagement team, through my Department, engages with local representatives and statutory services. The Deputy mentioned education. When the war in Ukraine broke out, the Department of Education created regional education and language teams, REALT, throughout all of the education and training boards. These teams allow for the identification of where there are places in primary and secondary schools and where there are pressures. This approach allows for better co-ordination for Ukrainians initially and, subsequently, for international protection applicants. It has been effective in ensuring that underutilised school places are utilised by Ukrainians or international protection applicants and, where there are pressures on schools, the Department of Education is engaged with on bringing forward new accommodation solutions in those schools. The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, has received significantly increased capital funding to make that happen.
The approach taken by the Department and the Government has failed utterly and seems to be led by speculators making millions of euro from the process. It does not take into consideration the needs of communities on which additional pressures have been placed. Many Ministers have given false promises in this Chamber. For example, additional services were promised when Syrian refugees first arrived in Roscommon many years ago, but those services have still not been delivered in Ballaghaderreen and other communities in Roscommon where there are significant pressures on GP services and school places. The false promises have led to large levels of resentment. People want to do the right thing and support people coming to this State seeking protection, but when the State fails by putting more pressure on limited services within their communities, it causes resentment. That failure lies at the Government’s door.
My colleagues across the Government and I are acutely conscious of the pressures caused by our response to the war, but I would put it to the Deputy that it is at times of war, conflict and other pressures that countries have to dig deep. Irish people across our society have done that.
Some more than others.
Communities have rallied to support Ukrainians and international protection applicants. Having met Ukrainians, international protection applicants and the communities that support them, I am conscious of how aware those communities are of the importance of their role and of how unique the challenge we are facing is. It is the largest movement of people across the European Continent since the Second World War. It has caused challenges and pressures, but we will manage those and make changes to the system to accommodate and address the changed context. When I meet communities around the country, they still feel that we are doing the right thing and that we need to step up and support people who are vulnerable.
