Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has denied that the Government “backed down” in the face of protests in Ballinrobe and Carlow with regard to accommodation for male asylum seekers.
Providing accommodation for women and families was the “first priority” which unfortunately, meant that in some circumstances there was no accommodation for male international protection applicants, she told Newstalk Breakfast.
Ms McEntee also said she had “every confidence” in the gardaí who were pursuing a number of lines of investigation into arson attacks in Galway and Dublin on premises that were believed to be providing accommodation for male applicants.
“We are doing everything we can to respond to a very challenging situation. We want to provide a roof over everyone’s head.”
The Minister said her department was trying to speed up the application process. Over 1,000 cases were being processed every month, speeding up that process was part of a suite of measures that the Government would be undertaking to fulfil its obligations.
Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman will bring a review before Cabinet in the coming weeks, she said, which will provide details of a national response such as reception centres.
The numbers seeking international protection had increased significantly over the last two years in Ireland and across Europe. Ireland needed to be able to respond in the “most effective way possible.”
The Government’s response will be that if people have a right to be in the country they will be provided with protection and if they don’t “that we're firm and that they're asked to leave.”
There had been a lot of misinformation, said Ms McEntee. “There’s a suggestion that we have a significantly higher proportion of people seeking international protection here in Ireland.
"We don't have, that’s not the case here. We represent about 1.3 percent of the European population, the international protection factor is about 1.17 percent.
“We're always trying to improve our system, to make sure people get their decisions as quickly as possible. But everybody's unique. So we can't say why any one person is getting it over the other.”
When asked about potential arrests or prosecutions about the arson attacks, Ms McEntee said that she had every confidence in the garda investigation. Arson was an extremely serious criminal offence which carried a severe penalty.
She was concerned that some people were trying to justify arson around the issue of migration.
“Let's talk about migration and talk about the increased numbers. Let's talk about our system. Let's talk about the challenges that we face in all of our communities. But let's never justify what is an extremely serious act where people can be seriously injured or, you know, we don't know who could have been in any of those buildings that have been set alight, two in recent weeks.”
Decisions that had been taken in Ballinrobe and Carlow had been made on the basis of prioritising women and families, she said. This was a challenge and it did mean there was no accommodation for male applicants.
“We all know the weather, how it's turned in the last few days, in the last week. Nobody wants to see an individual, any person without a roof over their head, sleeping in a tent, sleeping rough."
