An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2025-07-08
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Sarah O'Reilly (AON), Agricultural Panel

A few days ago, the Department of justice confirmed a plan to move over 2,000 people out of their accommodation. These people have been granted asylum but are still stuck in IPAS accommodation. They will be sent to emergency homeless accommodation instead. This new Government plan is causing chaos around the country, with county councils refusing to co-operate because they do not have beds available. On Friday evening, in the space of a few hours, I received phone calls from two separate local families presenting as homeless. We currently have 16,000 people homeless in emergency accommodation, the highest number on record. The system does not have the capacity to accommodate thousands more at the click of Jim O'Callaghan's finger.
If this plan goes ahead, we are going to see direct competition for resources between homeless people locally and those who have recently been granted asylum. If this plan goes ahead, we will see the most dramatic and steepest increase in homelessness figures we have ever seen, in particular child homelessness. Will the Government reverse this stupid and inhumane decision? Who is chosen when it comes to homelessness when there is not enough capacity?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-07-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-07-08