Ministers hint at another operation to move asylum seeker tents from Grand Canal

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien

There will be soon be another operation to move more asylum seekers from tents in Dublin as another encampment was set up along the Grand Canal overnight on Thursday.

It comes as the Taoiseach admitted that future accommodation coming on stream will likely be tented accommodation.

Some 163 people who had been sleeping in tents on the Grand Canal were moved to tented accommodation in Dundrum and Crooksling on Thursday morning. However, just hours after the “operation”, another 30 tents were set up further down the canal overnight. It was also reported that tents were set up in East Wall and Ringsend.

The latest figures from the Department of Integration show there are 1,715 international protection applicants unaccommodated.

Speaking at the launch of a new housing development in Hollystown, west Dublin, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and Immigration Minister Roderic O’Gorman indicated that the asylum seekers and their tents will be moved.

“We’ve been very clear that that’s not where we want to see people. We don’t want to see asylum seekers in tents,” Minister O’Brien said.

“An operation will be put in place, agreed between our departments, to move those tents on, to move people into safe and secure accommodation. That’s what we intend to do.”

Minister O’Gorman, meanwhile, said that he was aware of the tents at the Grand Canal but argued the Government has accommodated 450 people in the last week following the operations at Mount Street and Grand Canal.

“We’ve always said the key issue for us is the availability of supply,” he said. “We have been able to bring significant additional supply of accommodation on over the last two weeks. That’s been because of intensive work across government across different departments, different state agencies supporting my department’s work in terms of providing accommodation.

“We will be in a position to bring additional accommodation on over the next week and in the weeks to come. We will use that to deal with the needs of those who are sleeping rough now and indeed, those who will arrive in the coming days.”

It was reported in the Irish Mirror last week and elsewhere on Friday that the Government will now turn its attention to derelict and disused buildings in a bid to solve the accommodation shortages.

Asked by the Irish Mirror if vacant buildings could not have been used to alleviate the homeless crisis long before now, Mr O’Brien said that there has been an increased focus on their use and vacant commercial properties are being repurposed for “resident-Irish” people in emergency accommodation.

He also stated that 10,000 bed spaces for Ukrainian refugees have been established through both the “Offer a Home” scheme and the refurbishment programme.

Speaking in Cork, meanwhile, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that the situation at Mount Street had been allowed to “fester for many weeks and months” and a similar situation will not be allowed to happen again.

He said: “I am satisfied that there will be more accommodation solutions coming on stream. We need to be honest about a lot of that may look like tents with sanitation on public sites, but a more safe environment from both the public health point of view and from a legal point of view.”

Mr Harris stated that he has asked ministers to come forward with proposals to tackle migration and there will be “more news on that in the days ahead”.

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