Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-13
============================================================

Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

In the first instance, we have a very clear asylum system in this country which is fair and robust. I do not approve of any commentary that would in any way undermine any particular ethnicity or any person with a particular ethnic background. I have been very clear about that. My understanding is that the former Taoiseach, Mr. Ahern, has resiled from those comments and says he has no issue with people who come through our asylum process. I want to be very clear from my perspective and my party's perspective that we do not approve of those specific comments. They were in a conversation which was subsequently published. It was not, therefore, a distraction process by anybody here because no one could anticipate that any commentary of that kind would be in the public domain. Be that as it may, our position is very clear. We have a fair and robust asylum process which has accelerated a lot. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has outlined that. Then we have a broader migration narrative. People come from Europe, the EFTA countries and beyond, who work in our economy and our health service. We have many Irish citizens with different ethnic backgrounds who play a very full and meaningful contribution to Irish life.
Regarding the broader issue of housing, this Government, in particular over the last number of years, has substantially step-changed the provision of social housing. This year, up to 9,000 were built, compared with very low numbers four or five years ago. There has been a very substantial step-change in the provision of public housing itself. Significant funding is also made available to local authorities, and particularly Dublin City Council, in respect of regeneration, refurbishment and maintenance. In the first instance it is a matter for Dublin City Council to make sure its housing stock is properly maintained and refurbished. We establish local authorities. We give them powers and remit. Anytime they do anything then, the Dáil - or elements of the Dáil - in a reflex wants to come back in and say that local authority does not have any space or parameters in which it can develop policies itself. These are elected representatives of many parties, including the Deputy's, and they have to organise and run their councils in a sustainable manner. That is a matter for the councils. Government does not dictate every single item of local authority policy. What we have tried to do in the last while is to say to councils that they need to zone more land for housing. I do not know whether the Deputy agrees with that but we believe councils need to do this. We need more space for local authority housing, social and affordable housing, and affordable rental as well. That is the most fundamental-----

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-13