Dundrum House accommodation concerns
Mattie McGrath says people in Clonmel were promised follow-up on Dundrum House Hotel, but now fear the Ukrainian refuge is being converted to IPAS accommodation without community consultation. The Tánaiste says the community's concerns are sincere, insists children should not be uprooted in mid-year, and says discussions without Government engagement are not acceptable.
The Tánaiste visited Clonmel some months ago when he met with Nora O’Dwyer and Andrea Crowe regarding Dundrum House Hotel and its use as a refuge for hundreds of people from Ukraine. They have been settled in and integrated into the community. Many work in the community. The Tánaiste made commitments that day to get back to them but they have not heard a peep since. Now we understand that this refuge has been changed over to the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS. There has been no engagement with the community. I spoke to the engagement team this morning who are expecting an announcement. There is angst, fear and upset because they had worked so hard on integration and the various services for the Ukrainians. They got on very well but now there is change without any engagement. There is a 24-hour vigil at the gate of the hotel. People there are very upset and that is why they continue that. They deserve to be consulted. I thought when we had a change of Minister or the Department, when immigration services went into the Department of Justice, that we might see some change in this situation and I still hope that we will. Money is being wasted. We were talking about money this morning.
Comment on this
I was very grateful to have an opportunity to meet those people in Clonmel. The sincerity of their feelings was very clear to me and I fully accept their bona fides.
A pause needs to be placed by the Department on the situation regarding Ukrainian accommodation. I made this very clear. What I mean is the idea of uprooting children in the middle of the school year is not acceptable. Second, the idea of their having a conversation about the conversion of the Ukrainian facilities into IPAS facilities without having a discussion with the Government is not acceptable. We need to be humane to children and parents during the school year who have fled a war and who have been welcomed into our communities. That is the approach we need to take and I will articulate that at the highest levels in Government.