Roderic O'Gorman asks Cabinet colleagues to 'do more' for refugees
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Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman has said he has called on his Coalition colleagues to “do more” in a bid to get all refugees accommodated.
His comments come after there was a clash at Cabinet on Tuesday over the handling of the accommodation crisis.
Mr O’Gorman received “pushback” from Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, backed by Tánaiste Micheál Martin.
When asked about the exchange at Cabinet and whether he feels he is being adequately supported by his colleagues, Mr O’Gorman said he does but he “has to keep making the point and it was the point I made at Cabinet, all of us need to do more so we can accommodate everybody”.
“I've gotten really significant help from across Government, really significant help, but the point is, there are still people unaccommodated.
“So collectively, we're going to have to do more to accommodate.”
He said all buildings that have been offered to his department have been used but if some buildings need refurbishments, “those skills aren’t within our department”, and said it was the Department of Housing that gets local authorities to renovate them.
Mr O’Gorman met Clare TDs and senators on Wednesday over the ongoing protest at a hotel in Inch. He faced criticism for the lack of communication which has frustrated locals.
It is understood that Mr O’Gorman “conceded” that there had been a lack of information and that communication could be better.
He told the meeting that a fire cert for Magowna House Hotel is expected to be sorted in two weeks.
Politicians at the meeting said they felt that the occupancy at the hotel would then increase once this matter was resolved.
Refugees being housed in three holiday homes on the hotel site can use the hotel for recreational purposes but can’t sleep there yet.
The Government is expected to face further opposition as it prepares to move asylum seekers into three locations in Dublin: Santry, Dún Laoghaire, and Clondalkin.
Sources have said refugees will be placed in an industrial premises at Airways Industrial Estate in Santry, and TDs were briefed on the move recently. It is understood up to 100 asylum seekers could be moved into the premises initially, that this number will increase over time, and that the premises will mostly be used to accommodate single people.
TDs said they were aware that a contract will be for a year initially with the possibility of extension.
It is understood there has been communication with gardaí on the matter and TDs were informed there will be security personnel on-site.
Other premises where refugees will be accommodated include a former senior college building on Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire and Dolcain House in Clondalkin.
There has already been political opposition to the proposal to house asylum seekers at Airways Industrial Estate.
Local Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall said: "The accommodation situation for asylum seekers is now in crisis. The Government's failure to meet its own targets has resulted in it using extremely unsuitable industrial buildings to house vulnerable migrants."
Meanwhile, a tender has been issued for the Government's communication strategy on housing migrants, the Green Party junior minister Joe O’Brien told the Dáil.
"The tender is out. We hope to have some answers on that soon, and we'll develop a new communications strategy, which will help.
"The Department of the Taoiseach has been drawing up plans for a communications strategy over the last couple of months."