Mac Lochlainn blasts ‘shambolic’ handling of challenge of refugees and asylum seekers

Deputy Mac Lochlainn told the Dáil how his home county of Donegal had taken in more refugees and asylum seekers per capita than any other county in the country with the support of citizens.

But he warned that this has placed pressures on the school system, the availability of tourist accommodation, and other services and amenities within the county.

"When I look across Donegal, I see there are now more than 7,000 Ukrainian refugees and almost 2,000 asylum seekers accommodated in the county. In most instances, that has been done with the support of the community.

"People's goodwill was thrown back in their faces. There has been an impact on tourism, with half of hotel beds in the county now taken up in accommodating people,” said the Buncrana-based T.D.

He referred to one school in the county whose numbers, he claimed rose by 52 from 152 to 204 in October 2022, an increase of a third.

“The new pupils were the children of refugees and asylum seekers. The school was welcoming, with wonderful support given to the children. I am glad to say they flourished in that environment.

"However, because the children were not enrolled before the deadline of September 30, they received no financial support. The school staff were repeatedly in contact with the Department of Education asking for the same support per capita for the new pupils as it receives for every other child. The staff pointed out that the school was only days over the deadline and these were exceptional circumstances,” said the Sinn Féin T.D.

Deputy MacLochlainn said it was wrong to impugn the motives of people in the county raising concerns as racist, arguing that people have legitimate concerns about access to services in the county.

He stated: “Donegal has taken more refugees and asylum seekers per capita than any other county in the State. I will not for one moment stand for anybody questioning the calibre or decency of our people when they ask genuine questions, like people did in the school to which I referred.

"There are people in communities asking legitimate questions such as how the extra responsibility will be sustained if they already cannot get an appointment with their GP.

"People cannot get their children into the national school because there is a queue for places. Was any research done on that? There was none.”

The Sinn Féin TD described the government’s handling of the issue as ‘shambolic’. And he claimed it was being exploited by xenophobic elements.

"A small minority of our people are racist and they are taking advantage of this but the Government's handling of this in communities is playing into their hands.

"Please listen to people like me who have stood up for the underprivileged and disadvantaged all my political life. I do not have a racist bone in my body. I am an internationalist person.

Over 7,000 Ukrainian refugees now living in Donegal

"I am telling the Government that this is being handled appallingly. Good people have been burnt badly by all of this experience. The Government needs to rebuild those relationships, listen to the people and make changes now,” he said.

Immigration minister Roderic O’Gorman, responding to the concerns of Deputy Mac Lochlainn and other TDs, said: "Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have seen the largest movement of people across the European Continent since the Second World War.

“That has necessitated the largest humanitarian response across the European Union since its foundation. Ireland's part in that has been to play host to approximately 100,000 Ukrainians who have fled here.

“At the same time as Ireland and Europe are responding to that crisis, we are, as a continent, seeing a significant increase in the number of international protection applicants, driven by wars and conflicts across north Africa and the Middle East.

"All of this has generated a huge effort and response by the Irish public. More than 16,000 people from Ukraine are staying in homes of people offered to them by Irish people through the offer a home scheme and the Irish Red Cross scheme.”

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth pointed out how many community groups have been established around the country to support the integration of people who have fled to Ireland from Ukraine and other countries.

Ukrainian refugees will have nowhere to go under 90 day limit with only 40 properties in Donegal for rent

“I recognise that there is concern about the international protection system as it stands, the procedures and processes in place for international protection applicants, the means of accommodating those who flee here and what this will mean for those who come here.

"The unprecedented scale of the challenge the State has faced in the last two years has exacerbated the flaws in a model the State has relied upon and was already in need of reform to meet the needs of 21st century migration, even before the war in Ukraine.

"Despite this, reforms have been pursued and further reforms will be outlined in the coming weeks,” said the Minister.

He also acknowledged the dangers of racism and ‘false narratives’ being peddled in relation to immigration.

“We have seen what happens in other countries when paranoia and inaccurate statements about migration are promoted. We see where that leads and I do not think that is somewhere we want to see our politics lead to here,” he stated.

Micky Kelly doing his bit to help Ukrainian refugees settle in north west