Sharon Keogan: Questions Government Secrecy Over House Purchases
Sharon Keogan returns to the situation in Stamullen to challenge the government's quiet purchase of private homes for international protection applicants, arguing secrecy-not communities-is the problem. She defends Stamullen's record of hospitality and accuses Minister McEntee of allowing a culture of secrecy that fuels fear and risk.
Sharon Keogan clears Stamullen's name, noting its long history of supporting vulnerable people: Stedalt House House for homeless families, over 300 Ukrainians in Gormanston Park, proximity to Mosney's almost 700 international protection applicants, and care provisions through Newa Healthcare and Redwood. She rejects the suggestion that the town is hostile to asylum seekers.
Keogan argues that the government has labelled communities as a danger to justify secrecy around secret house purchases. She warns that lack of transparency and community engagement creates chaos, fuels rumours and increases risk for both international protection applicants and local residents.
Keogan explicitly calls out Minister McEntee, saying her previous role allowed this pattern to develop and holding her responsible for the failures in engagement and planning. The speech frames transparency as essential to preventing the very incidents the government cites to defend secrecy.
Local record and reputation
Sharon Keogan clears Stamullen's name, noting its long history of supporting vulnerable people: Stedalt House House for homeless families, over 300 Ukrainians in Gormanston Park, proximity to Mosney's almost 700 international protection applicants, and care provisions through Newa Healthcare and Redwood. She rejects the suggestion that the town is hostile to asylum seekers.
Secrecy, fear and risk
Keogan argues that the government has labelled communities as a danger to justify secrecy around secret house purchases. She warns that lack of transparency and community engagement creates chaos, fuels rumours and increases risk for both international protection applicants and local residents.
Accountability and consequences
Keogan explicitly calls out Minister McEntee, saying her previous role allowed this pattern to develop and holding her responsible for the failures in engagement and planning. The speech frames transparency as essential to preventing the very incidents the government cites to defend secrecy.
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Transcript
Thank you, Laska Heerlach. Leader, I want to return to a situation in Stamolin today because in response to serious concerns about the quiet purchase of private residential homes for international protection application, the government's position has been that communities must be kept in the dark for the safety and well-being of asylum seekers. That claim deserves scrutiny because it claims that government secrecy and failure in community engagement is somehow necessary. First, it is important to clear this community's name. Stamolin is a generous and decent town and every person in it, and its generosity is beyond question. It already hosts homeless families in Stadalt House. It has already housed over 300 Ukrainians in Gormiston Park. It is one mile from Mosney that houses almost 700 international protection applicants. It has provided care accommodations through Newa Healthcare and Redwood and has a long record of supporting vulnerable people without complaint. That matters, and the people of that area matter, and their reputation matters, because the government's implication that communities like this are hostile and unreasonable is simply not born out of facts. What people object to was not compassion but secrecy. That is also why it is so galling to hear this and other secretive house purchases across the country described as in-community accommodation, when the community in question are being kept entirely in the dark. And now we are told that this secrecy is necessary to protect the privacy, safety and well-being of residents and staff. But it must be said plainly, it is not transparency that creates danger. It is the lack of it, and it is chaos. It is a total absence of engagement, information and planning that fuels fear, rumours and tension. That is what puts everyone at risk, IPAs and locals alike. Let me be very clear, criminal attacks on accommodation centres are wrong, indefensible and must be condemned without reservation. But pointing to those risks as a justification for secrecy is backwards. The government is citing the consequences of its secrecy to justify its continued secrecy. Transparency must come before the headlines, not after them. And Minister McEntee, in her previous role as Minister for Justice, allowed all this to happen. So she is to blame here. Go raibh maith agat.