THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS will table a motion in the Dáil today criticising the government’s handling of accommodation for international protection applicants, amid an escalating crisis centred on the so-called ‘tent city’ on Dublin’s Mount Street.
The motion will demand the Government acknowledge its failure to house asylum seekers as “unlawful”.
In a somewhat unusual move, the Government will not table a counter motion. A spokesperson for the Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman has confirmed the decision to The Journal.
“It’s clear Government know they’ve mishandled this situation from the beginning,” Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore said.
“What we need to see now is Government taking the actions necessary to ensure a long-term, sustainable and most importantly, humane system is in place for the processing of asylum seekers.”
Roderic O’Gorman’s spokesperson told The Journal “there is a clear distinction between supporting and not opposing” a motion. The spokesperson also disputed some of the Social Democrats’ claims, in particular in relation to the availability of beds within the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) system.
Asylum seekers have been camping outside the International Protection Office in Dublin and they were recently removed to Crooksling in the Dublin mountains, only for some to return due to the remote location and poor conditions there.
Whitmore, the Social Democrat spokesperson on integration, said:
“It is scandalous that more than 1,200 international protection applicants across the country are currently without accommodation.”
The motion calls on the Government to agree that “its failure to provide material reception conditions to international protection applicants is unlawful”.
Whitmore described the tents lining Mount Street in Dublin city centre as a “shameful spectacle” and “a daily reminder of this Government’s failure to get to grips with this issue”.
“I don’t think we ever believed that we would witness scenes like this in Ireland,” she said.
She said that there are enough available beds in the asylum system to accommodate those sleeping in tents on Mount Street.
“There is no justification for people having to sleep on the streets in freezing and wet conditions when there is capacity in the system to provide them with appropriate accommodation.”
O’Gorman’s spokesperson disputed the claim that there were available beds, saying:
“With several hundred families and children arriving each week, beds must be held in reserve for those arriving, otherwise families with children could be left without shelter.
“In addition, family configuration (for example, three members of a family in a four bed room) means some beds cannot be used. The suggestion from the Social Democrats that we should not retain such capacity in the system to cater for such arrivals is either deliberately simplistic or deeply reckless.”
The Dáil motion will also call on the government to publish an audit of IPAS and Ukrainian refugee accommodation, and to identify vacant beds.
It also requests details of how long beds have been vacant and the reasons why they are unused.
“There must be an explanation as to why an audit of accommodation capacity – believed to number at least 500 beds and possibly several thousand – was only completed this week when the State has been failing in its legal duty to provide accommodation for many months,” she said ahead of the Dáil debate.
The Social Democrats will also demand the Government publish the revised White Paper that O’Gorman is working on, which details its short, medium and long-term plan to deal with accommodation for asylum seekers.
The motion also calls for the development of six planned State-run reception and integration centres to be expedited.
Finally, the motion will call on the Government to ensure there are “adequate procurement controls” and “enhanced transparency” when contracts for accommodation centres are awarded.
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