Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said communities do not get a “veto” over who can live in their area amid protests against accommodation of International Protection applicants at the former Magowna Hotel in Inch, Co Clare.
“Nobody gets to say who can or cannot live in their area. And we can’t have that kind of situation. But I think we shouldn’t dismiss concerns that people have about their locality.
“People do want to know what’s happening. They want certain assurances and we have a responsibility to do that. But that doesn’t mean that anyone can say that certain types of people can’t live in their area. We can’t tolerate that.”
The intervention came as Roderic O’Gorman, who as Minister for Integration has the lead role in housing refugees, was due to speak to local representatives over concerns about the suitability of the Co Clare site.
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The Minister yesterday repeated a request for assistant from other departments in accommodating refugees as the Government struggles to cope with demand.
But Mr O’Gorman received all the help that he has asked for in dealing with the immigration crisis, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday amid reports of Coalition tensions.
He was speaking after it emerged that during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien “pushed back” against Mr O’Gorman when the Green Party TD made his appeal.
Speaking in Iceland, where he is attending the fourth Council of Europe summit, Mr Varadkar said that any time Mr O’Gorman has asked for help, it has been given, adding: “I don’t think anyone’s holding back.”
“Any support that has been asked for I think, at this stage, is available and has been given. A huge amount of money has been set aside for this. The real challenge has been finding accommodation. I don’t think it’s the case that anyone or any Government department is withholding help that they could give. I think Ministers are working very closely together on this. Any time Minister O’Gorman has approached Government for help, particularly when it comes to financial help, that’s been made available. I don’t think anyone’s holding back.”
“What I can say is that this is a whole of Government effort when it comes to the issue of Ukraine and migration,” Mr Varadkar said.
“Mr O’ Gorman is the head of the Department of Integration - that is the lead department when it comes to these matters. Education is involved as well, 14,000 children from Ukraine are being provided with education in schools.
“There are tens of thousands of medical cards issued by the Department of Health. The Department of Social Protection are very involved in giving people the welfare supports that they need. I think about 15,000 people are now working and every Government department is involved in their own way but there does have to be a lead department that is naturally the department of integration.”
Asked if the Coalition was cohesive, the Taoiseach said he believed it was.
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Minister Roderic O’Sullivan meanwhile has insisted that he will proceed with housing asylum seekers at the former Magowna House Hotel in Inch, Co Clare.
Responding to reports that some of the protestors in Co Clare had boarded an asylum seekers bus to count how many were leaving, Mr O’Gorman told journalists on Wednesday afternoon: “If that is the case, it is absolutely unacceptable. I think both that and the blockade outside the centre is entirely unacceptable. People have the right to protest, people have the right to disagree with Government policy, but to prevent people accessing the accommodation that they have is not acceptable and I would ask the people on the blockade to reflect on where they’re at at the moment.”
Mr O’Gorman sought to play down reports on tensions in Government on the issue following reported exchanges at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
Asked about comments by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Iceland, Mr O’Gorman said that he understood the Taoiseach to mean that he had been provided with “very significant financial resources”.
“The point that we discussed at Cabinet yesterday was that there are still 480 people unaccommodated right now and as long as that’s the case Government collectively need to do more”.
He insisted that “any usable building that has been offered to use, we’ve taken it and we’re used it”.
“I’ve gotten really significant help from across government, " he said, “but collectively were going to have to more.”
Mr O’Gorman said that the significant numbers of people arriving in Ireland seeking international protection – as well as the Ukrainians seeking refuge from the war in their country – meant that some people would be sleeping in tents for the coming period, despite the risks to them.
“We don’t want that to become something we have to become accustomed to and that’s why working to in the first place provide that additional accommodation over the next weeks so we can reduce the numbers and look to see whatever other solutions we can bring forward so people aren’t sleeping in tents, because we know the risk people face when they’re rough sleeping,” he said.
Mr O’Gorman said he had met local representatives on Wednesday morning and listened to their concerns. However, he said, “I did make it clear to the deputies and senators that we had to use this accommodation in light of the fact there are people unaccommodated.”
He said he was open to meeting with delegation of local residents, but had no plans to travel to Co Clare.
The Taoiseach later said that he supported Minister O’Gorman’s decision not to close the accommodation centre which was blockaded in Clare.
Speaking in Iceland, the Fine Gael leader also said the majority of unaccommodated asylum seekers will be offered somewhere to stay by the end the week.
Asked if he was worried that there was a striking change in tone around the immigration debate, he said it was “too soon to say.”
Concerned locals have set up blockades in Inch, Co Clare complaining that the site is not suitable for the single male asylum seekers who were sent there in recent days – some of whom are reported to have left the chalet-style accommodation overnight.
The Co Clare incident comes as the Government struggles to house asylum seekers across the country, amid the continuing housing crisis, and a protest at a makeshift refugee camp on Dublin’s Sandwith Street on Friday that culminated in the burning of tents and belongings there.
The Government is now scrambling to find shelter for 520 asylum seekers it has been unable to accommodate.
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Minister for Arts Catherine Martin said the response was a “whole of government approach”. When asked about comments made by her party colleague, Senator Roisin Garvey, that Mr O’Gorman was being loaded with too much work she said: “There will be issues in relation to accommodation shortages, but it’s very much a whole of government approach frm day one and continues to be that.”
