KILDARE: Residents criticise lack of information over refugees

Protests look set to continue in Kill as residents’ representatives criticise a lack of information surrounding plans to accommodate refugees from Ukraine.

The Department of Children, Equality , Integration, Disability and Youth has announced plans to house the refugees at a former equestrian site but no clear information has been forthcoming about how many will arrive initially or when people from the war torn country will start to arrive.

A contract to transform the site into a suitable condition will be signed soon and according to the DCEIDY  discussions are still taking place with the site provider to bring the site on stream.

The department has undertaken to provide updated information to the local representatives soon and no refugees - or beneficiaries of temporary protection as the department refers to them - will move in before these representatives are briefed.

It is understood that the fire safety certificate, a necessary document relating to any venue used by  numbers of people, refers to a capacity of 355 people.

And although this is much larger than the 165 figure relating to the numbers to be housed in Kill, it is understood that the 355 figure refers to an original application when the possibility of refugees coming to Kill was first mooted.

Fiona Forkan of the Kill Residents Action Group said that the contract for the site remains unsigned and any significant development at the site is weeks away.

“Even after the contract is signed it will take weeks before anyone moves in but we are only being given bits of information by the department. Their intention is to open it only for Ukrainian families but we would like to have more detail about the plan. All we are getting is trickles of information or a repeat of information already provided,” siad Ms Forkan.

The main concerns of KRAG are that the infrastructure and amenities of the village will not be able to cope and they point out that the GP services are operating at capacity and there are no additional places at the local primary school. They have also said that the centre is not suitable to be redeveloped.

Separately the department has not responded directly to a claim that part of The Waterways complex in Sallins could be used to provide refugee accommodation.

 In a statement the the department said that since the beginning of 2022, Ireland and many other European countries are experiencing a significant increase of new arrivals seeking international protection (IP). Last year, over 15,000 people arrived in Ireland seeking accommodation while their applications for international protection is processed by the International Protection Office.  Over the period 2017-2019 an average of 3,500 people applied for protection each year.

The State has a legal and moral obligation to assess the claims of those who seek refuge, and in that time to provide accommodation and support.

Combined with the simultaneous arrival of over 70,000 people displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – the largest displacement of people in Europe since the Second World War – the pressures on the State to respond to the challenge are immense. 55,000 of those are in State-provided accommodation.

Intensive efforts are undertaken daily by staff in DCEIDY and the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) to source emergency accommodation. However, procuring enough bed space to keep pace with incoming arrivals remains extremely challenging, leading to very significant shortages.

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