International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-25
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Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (SF), Wicklow-Wexford

For me, this is about listening to the people and that is about uniting rather than dividing people. We need to communicate with local communities. It is disappointing to see the Government and fellow colleagues on the left, when we are tabling sensible amendments which are about good planning, making this issue about Sinn Féin, which it should not be. I absolutely despise racism. I have been to many of these centres, sat down and drunk tea with the people there. As a councillor, I have been involved in integration days, lots of different collaborations, cultural evenings, etc.
This is about planning, really. It is about a policy that is sensible and sustainable. We have roughly 320 centres, I believe, across the State. Seventy-eight of them are in Dublin. How diverse is Dalkey? How many centres are in Dalkey or in similar places? They always seem to be in working-class and rural communities that are isolated and which lack services. I would assume that any progressive-minded person, whether on the left or on the right, would want to call out greed and speculation. I am looking at €1.2 billion given to private providers last year. I am looking at people who did not have much money becoming millionaires overnight, people speculating and people running a train through planning laws. I look at Blessington and Kippure, in Wicklow. Seefin Events has been through the courts numerous times. Wicklow County Council had to order it to demolish 65 units because apparently it did not follow planning laws. It is about sensible planning. I look at Dundrum, County Tipperary, and a manor house. Often there is a speculator and international finance capital involved in this. More people were put into this centre than was the population of the village. How is that good planning? My colleague, Deputy Doherty, mentioned the Gaeltacht area of Gweedore. The whole idea was supposed to be about developing Irish speakers in the Gaeltachtaí, which are basically dying. How would Gweedore be a suitable area? How would Carna, in Connemara, be a suitable area? In my own county, Rosslare is an area which is probably the most welcoming in Ireland. You could not find a more welcoming area or village. They had two IPAS centres. There was a fantastic response to the Ukrainian war. They organised a €100,000 fundraiser in the first couple of weeks. They were due to have a nursing home in the Great Southern Hotel. What happened then? It was flipped by a big speculator - finance capital again. They were looking for planning to put 400 into the Great Southern Hotel in this tiny village. Luckily, people stopped it because it was not sensible.
This is the way to oppose racism. It is about uniting people and listening to people. That has not been happening so far. I could mention numerous other examples all across Ireland, like Achill Island, etc. There are just so many of them. I think of Seefin Events, the company in Blessington that I mentioned, and Kippure. They received €5.6 million during last summer. Then we have Wicklow County Council telling them that they have to demolish because it was done in breach of planning regulations. How could that be good policy? Why would anybody on the left support that? Why would my colleagues to my right support people making €1.2 billion, finance capital groups-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25