Government still 'exploring' how to tell communities about incoming refugees 

Taoiseach Leo said of the incident near Ennis in Co Clare: 'I don't think the blockade is necessary. What we do need to do is engage with the community. But we are facing an unprecedented situation.'

Officials in the Department of the Taoiseach are still “exploring” how best to communicate with local communities on moving refugees into their towns, the Irish Examiner has learned.

It comes as the Government has faced criticism again for failing to adequately communicate with people in Inch, Co Clare over the number of international protection (IP) applicants that are being housed in the area.

In January, Minister of State at the Department of Integration Joe O’Brien was asked to assist with community engagement and to help put a team together given his experience with community work.

However, it has emerged that work has been stalled. Mr O'Brien said:

In January, upon taking office, I had initiated proposals based on recruitment of a small team and utilising existing community networks under my remit However officials of the Department of Taoiseach wanted time to explore alternative models of engagement and I understand that work is ongoing.

The Department of Taoiseach was also contacted for comment.

The Government has said it expects between 200 and 300 asylum seekers that have not been offered State accommodation should be offered a place to stay within the next week.

It comes as Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called for Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to give statements and take questions and answers in the Dáil over the matter.

Ahead of a Council of Europe meeting in Iceland, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Mr O'Gorman and his department would engage with the local community in Clare on Wednesday, but said the situation means that sometimes "whatever accommodation is available" will be used.

"I don't think the blockade is necessary. What we do need to do is engage with the community. But we are facing an unprecedented situation.

Nearly 100,000 people from other parts of the world, mainly Ukraine, have come to Ireland seeking refuge and seeking shelter. We have to provide for them whatever accommodation is available and it isn't always going to be perfect. But it is the best we can do.

Mr Varadkar said it is not possible to say when asylum seekers will no longer be forced to sleep on the streets because of a lack of State accommodation.

He said there has been a "significant" slowdown in the numbers coming in but the Government "can't say for sure" if there could be another increase for some reason.

Mr Varadkar also moved to clarify his comments in which he said he didn’t think there was enough gardaí on the streets of Dublin to effectively combat violent attacks on refugees.

He said he does not believe there are enough gardaí on the streets, which is why the Government has authorised the recruitment of an additional 1,000 members of the force.

"I have no difficulty saying that I accept the case that the gardaí need more resources and we are providing them. But when it comes to this particular matter of protests, and indeed violent protests in some cases, the Garda Commissioner has given us the assurance that he has operational integrity."