Mattie McGrath: Demands pause on moving Ukrainians from Dundrum Hotel
Mattie McGrath criticised the conversion of Dundrum House Hotel's Ukrainian accommodation to IPAS use and the absence of community engagement. He urged a pause on relocations, saying uprooting children in the middle of the school year is not acceptable.
He said he visited Tom Meltzer months ago and met with Noro, the Wire, and Andrew A. Co regarding Dundrum House Hotel, where hundreds of people from Ukraine had been settled, integrated and were working in the community.
He reported that the facility has since been changed to IPAS and that there has been no engagement with the local community; the engagement team is reportedly expecting an announcement but residents feel angst, fear and upset.
He described a 24-hour vigil at the gate of the hotel and said the local people who helped with integration and services deserve to be consulted. He also raised concerns that money is being wasted by the current handling of the situation.
He called for a pause by the department on Ukrainian accommodation conversions and relocations, stressing that converting facilities to IPAS without government discussion is unacceptable. He argued decisions should be humane to children and parents who have fled war and pledged to raise the issue at the highest levels of government.
Visit and earlier commitments
He said he visited Tom Meltzer months ago and met with Noro, the Wire, and Andrew A. Co regarding Dundrum House Hotel, where hundreds of people from Ukraine had been settled, integrated and were working in the community.
Change to IPAS and lack of engagement
He reported that the facility has since been changed to IPAS and that there has been no engagement with the local community; the engagement team is reportedly expecting an announcement but residents feel angst, fear and upset.
Community response and local impact
He described a 24-hour vigil at the gate of the hotel and said the local people who helped with integration and services deserve to be consulted. He also raised concerns that money is being wasted by the current handling of the situation.
Call for pause and humane approach
He called for a pause by the department on Ukrainian accommodation conversions and relocations, stressing that converting facilities to IPAS without government discussion is unacceptable. He argued decisions should be humane to children and parents who have fled war and pledged to raise the issue at the highest levels of government.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Other speeches
Tego samego dnia All speeches from this day →
Richard Boyd Barrett
Richard Boyd Barrett: School barred from hiring substitutes
Joe O'Reilly
Joe O'Reilly backs super juniors to address elderly and disability
Sharon Keogan
Sharon Keogan urges review of local government representation
Paul Murphy
Paul Murphy urges ban on large SUVs in urban areas
Richard Boyd Barrett
Richard Boyd Barrett: Urges Wealth Taxes and Economic Diversification
Paul Murphy
Paul Murphy proposes bill to protect tenants' deposits
Transcript
I visited Tom Meltzer months ago, and you met with Noro, the Wire, and Andrew A. Co. regarding Dundrum House Hotel, and it's being refrigerated for people there from Ukraine. Hundreds of them, and they've been settled in, and they have been integrated into the community, managing and working in the community. You made some commitments that day that you get back to them. They haven't heard the peep since. Now we understand that it's been changed to IPAS, and there's no engagement for the community. I spoke to the engagement team this morning, and they're expecting an announcement, but there's angst and fear and upset, because they had worked so hard there into integration, and as I said, all the services laid out for the Ukrainians, and they got on very well. But now they're changed without any engagement. There's a 24-hour vigil at the gate of the hotel, and people are there are so upset, that's why they're continuing that. So they deserve to be consulted. I thought when we had a change of minister of the department that went into justice, we might see some, and I still hope that we'll see some changes in that situation, because money's being wasted. We talked about the money's been wasted, and people need to be consulted. Thanks very much, Ken Corlea. Thanks to Deputy McGrath. I was very grateful to have an opportunity to meet those people in Klanbell, and it's very clear to me the sincerity of their feelings, and I fully accept their bona fides. Can I say this, Ken Corlea? I really think a pause needs to be placed here by the department in relation to the situation regarding Ukrainian accommodation. I've made this very, very clear. What I mean by that is the idea of uprooting children in the middle of the school year is not acceptable. Secondly, the idea of then just having a conversation about conversion of Ukrainian facilities into IPAS facilities without having a discussion with government is not acceptable. So what we need to do here is we need to be humane to children and parents during the school year who have fled a war, who have been welcomed to our communities, and that's the approach we need to take, and I'll certainly be articulating that at the highest levels of government. Thank you.