It is completely unacceptable that a country with the wealth and resources of Ireland cannot accommodate the number of people who have sought protection here over the last 18 months, according to the chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, Nick Henderson.
He was speaking as the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) published its latest report on migration and asylum, showing 141,600 people arrived in the State in the 12 months to April, representing a 31 per cent increase on the previous year.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Mr Henderson said it was time for the Government to consider providing “some sort of large scale, State-provided accommodation that ensures people's basic needs and shelter”.
“There is clearly just one single government department that has played a part here.
“Ultimately, when we boil it all down, the Department of Children has led on this issue for the last 18 months, and in our opinion, other government departments need to begin playing their part,” Mr Henderson said.
“It's completely unacceptable that a country with the wealth and resources of Ireland cannot accommodate what is an increasing number of people seeking protection over the last 18 months, but still remains, we believe, a very manageable number.”
Mr Henderson said it has become clear in recent weeks, on the basis of briefings from the department, that the accommodation situation is “extremely tight”.
In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the department said that in recent months it had become increasingly challenging to open new accommodation for those seeking International Protection, particularly male applicants.
The spokesperson added that, as a result, the department is facing “the real possibility of a shortfall in accommodation in the coming days”.
“Officials are continuing to work at maximising the use of available accommodation,” they said.
Consequences
Mr Henderson said the main problem is that there has been very little effort put into finding places for people who have been granted asylum to move.
“There are currently around 6,000 people in accommodation who have [protected] status, who in theory can begin the process of building their lives in Ireland, but really find it very difficult to do so because of the dearth and lack of medium to long term accommodation that they can move to.”
Other government agencies, like Civil Defence or the Defence Forces, could be utilised to build temporary accommodation where people could be given shelter and help to get through the winter, Mr Henderson said.
“There is land out there, there are resources within the State that they could use, and the consequence of not doing that would be so grave, particularly in light of what happened last Thursday,” he added, referring to last week's riots in Dublin.
Mr Henderson also said suggestions about the length of time people could stay in accommodation are not helpful.
“It's inevitable that the current mode of accommodation, which is almost completely reliant on emergency accommodation, such as hotels and B&Bs, is unsustainable for everybody. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be trying to develop medium term and longer term accommodation options.
“The war in Ukraine isn't going away, it's likely to persist for at least another year. The war is also getting worse. People are continuing to come.
“Ireland has played a really significant part, but we still would have to develop those medium and long term accommodation options and try and help people move on into their own private accommodation,” Mr Henderson said.
