International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Sharon Keogan (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

It is only this month, I think, that we had an individual take this Government to court because it could not provide housing for them. It is not too long ago that we had people camping outside buildings on Mount Street because we could not provide capacity. We had no capacity. One of the State's arguments in the court case was it was unable to provide accommodation to the individuals. Capacity is really important. Our capacity to deal with individuals who are coming into the country is really important. What dignity is the Government giving the people who are sleeping in tents? There is no dignity in that. I am disappointed the Government has decided we can taken an infinite number of asylum seekers into the country when we have not got the resources for them. We just do not have the capacity. The Government needs to define the capacity we can take. Putting them into hotels and direct provision centres or processing centres down the line is not the way to deal with the capacity issue in the country. That is not giving dignity to those who are seeking asylum.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19