Bríd Smith: Demands urgent move for hunger-striking residents
Bríd Smith urged the government to move 32 international protection residents off-site after they began a hunger strike, saying their accommodation is unsafe during the pandemic and that water has been rationed. She said the residents demand own-door accommodation in Tullamore or Mosney and criticised the Department of Justice for failing them.
Urgent call to relocate residents
Bríd Smith described how 32 people in Caerseveen and the Skelligstar are on their third day without food after staging a hunger strike to force relocation from what she called 'rotten accommodation.' She said the Department of Justice is once again letting these people down and called for an immediate response from the Government.
Conditions at the centre
Smith said the owner, Paul Collins, has rationed their water to one litre a day and cited a consultant in public health medicine who described the centre as completely inappropriate for accommodation during a pandemic. She emphasised the severity of the situation, saying some residents would 'do better in a refugee camp in Lebanon.'
Alternatives and government response
The deputy said the residents' demand was simple - move them to own-door accommodation, which she said is available in Tullamore or in Mosney. She noted that officials from the Department had been in Caerseveen trying to resolve the issue, and drew attention to the practical difficulty that alternative appropriate accommodation must first be identified before moves can take place.
Procedural concern raised in the House
Smith also commented on a procedural matter after a colleague named a person who is not a member of the House and made an allegation about them. She said she did not know the person or whether the allegation was true and suggested the naming might breach the standing orders of the House.
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Tanaiste, the Programme for Government, commits to ending the direct provision system and replacing it with a new international protection accommodation system that is based on a not-for-profit approach. Currently in Caerseveen and the Skelligstar, 32 people are facing their third day without food. They've gone on hunger strike, which is a pretty drastic decision to take in order to force the issue of the need to move them out of that rotten accommodation. The owner, Paul Collins, has rationed their water to one litre a day. I think they would do better in a refugee camp in Lebanon. There is a record, a disgraceful record of this centre being, according to a consultant in public health medicine, completely inappropriate for accommodation during a pandemic. These residents need to be moved out. Their demand is simple. Move them to own-door accommodation, which is available in Tullamore or in Mosney. The Department of Justice is once again letting these people down. The third day on hunger strike, I think it deserves a response from this Government. Gar Mágo, Tánis. I understand that officials from the Department were in Caerseveen yesterday trying to resolve this issue. And we do, of course, want it resolved. But before you can move somebody to alternative appropriate accommodation, you have to find the alternative appropriate accommodation. And that is a difficulty. And I think everyone appreciates that. I do think Alaska and Carla, that the Deputy named somebody here who is not a member of the House, made an allegation against that person. I don't know that person. I don't know where the allegation is true. But I'm pretty sure it's a breach of the standing orders of the House for a Deputy to name somebody and make an allegation about them in the House. And I think you may wish to take that up with the Deputy. Thank you, Tán.
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