Tánaiste Micheál Martin has distanced himself from criticism of Government immigration policy from his own Fianna Fáil candidates.
It comes after Fianna Fáil candidate for Longford-Westmeath Dympna Cunniffe questioned in a social media post whether voters would want their children to pass a centre for asylum seekers while on their walk to school.
The post was referring to a centre earmarked for asylum seekers in Athlone, where a group of councillors are seeking legal advice to challenge the move.
Ms Cunniffe said community consultation should be mandatory, adding that the people of Athlone had done their “part” on accommodating refugees. The post has since been deleted.
Mr Martin said developments in Athlone were a “manifestation of broader pressures on communities” around migration.
Asked about Ms Cunniffe’s comments on the matter, he said: “I don’t agree with those comments at all.”
Pressed on whether he condemned her statements, he added: “I don’t approve of those comments.”
Elsewhere, it was reported that Fianna Fáil candidate for Sligo-Leitrim Edel McSharry described the coalition’s management of immigration as “reckless and irresponsible”.
Mr Martin said the Government had behaved “responsibly” in its response to increased immigration.
He said there had been “unprecedented” increase in the number of people seeking asylum in Ireland, coupled with the State’s response to accommodate 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war.
Mr Martin said there had been a “weaponisation” of migration by Russian president Vladimir Putin and also in the Middle East and Sudan.
He added: “We need a faster and fairer system and so we’re proposing a new government Department of Domestic Affairs that would have a border management agency within it and that would deal with migration in its entirety.
“Back in 2020, no one anticipated what has now transpired. We believe the decision to separate out responsibilities around migration between the Departments of Justice and Children has not worked, and we believe that this new approach will be more effective in time.”
Mr Martin said the Government has done everything it possibly can, adding that it is now moving towards an approach based on State-provided accommodation.
However, he cautioned that this also brought difficulties: “Communities are equally concerned, particularly in terms of numbers and so forth.
“So this will remain a challenging issue for any new government, and it will remain a challenging issue for all political parties into the future.”
