Providing tents to refugees ‘not a good idea’, Tánaiste says

An early-morning operation to remove a migrant camp along the Grand Canal. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

It is “not a good idea” for charities to provide tents to unaccommodated asylum seekers, the Tánaiste has said.

Micheál Martin said he believes there is a “problem” with non-governmental organisations providing tents to refugees who have yet to receive an offer of accommodation from the State.

The Government has faced criticism for failing to accommodate all asylum seekers amid an increase in the number of arrivals.

It comes Taoiseach Simon Harris has been accused of pandering to "thugs" by agreeing severe cuts to Ukrainian welfare payments.

Any Ukrainians living in ‘State-provided and serviced accommodation’ and do not work will see payments cut from €232 to €38.80 per week.

Emma Lane-Spollen, national coordinator of the Ukraine Civil Society Forum, of which more than 24 NGOs and community organisations are part, claimed the only outcome would be to drive people out of Ireland, which she said is the aim of anti-migrant groups who have been accused of inciting fires and escalating protests at the homes of politicians.

“If I want to be heard, do I need to start burning buildings or picketing the Taoiseach’s home?” she asked, as reported in the Irish Examiner.

It’s a radical, thuggish edge which is driving policy. This is not where the majority of people are.

Mr Harris said it is about “consistency of approach” and ensuring the system is "financially sustainable".

Tents which have been pitched by asylum seekers along a stretch of the Grand Canal, Dublin have been removed (Brian Lawless/PA)

There are currently 1,780 male international protection applicants who have not received an offer of State-provided accommodation.

Charities have provided tents to some of the asylum seekers who have not been provided with shelter by the State.

The Government provides funding to some of the organisations that have provided the tents.

Many of the unaccommodated refugees chose to erect their tents in clusters around Dublin, forming makeshift encampments around the International Protection Office and, later, along the Grand Canal.

The Government ordered multi-agency operations to clear the camps and relocate the international-protection applicants.

However, more tents have been pitched on a different stretch of the canal since the operations.

There is a conflict and there's a problem there, I acknowledge that. In my own view, tents are not a good idea anyway

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Martin said his experience from working with charities on the issue of homelessness was that other organisations are “not in favour” of providing tents.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin. File Picture: David Creedon

He said the practice is fundamentally unsafe and also carries risks around sanitation.

Asked about whether it made sense for the Government to fund charities that provide tents to the migrants while it is also attempting to clear encampments, Mr Martin said: “There is a conflict and there’s a problem there, I acknowledge that.

“In my own view, tents are not a good idea anyway.

“I witnessed that during different phases of homelessness, where many established homeless organisations were not in favour of the giving out of tents to homeless because it led to other challenges, and was actually unsafe.

“And there’s a fundamental issue of lack of sanitation and safety around the pitching of tents in any kind of location within a city or a town.

“The short-term solution is the securing of a significant State-owned site where we can facilitate proper tents with proper sanitation and basic supplies.”

I think there is a fundamental problem that we do have to address

Speaking on Newstalk, he added: “That is what we have been doing but we’re going to have to create more because the numbers that have come into the first three months, at the moment, is nearly double what came in the last three months last year.”

Asked if the provision of tents in the city centre needed to be stopped, Mr Martin said: “In respect of non-governmental organisations, they operate to their own ethos and so on but I do think we need to engage with them in relation to their practice.”

“I think there is a fundamental problem that we do have to address.”