THE MINISTER FOR Justice has denied that the Government reversed plans to house men seeking international protection in Ballinrobe in Co Mayo and Carlow.

She said that protests by locals in both towns, which preceded Government decisions to place families in accommodation centres in each location, were not a factor. 

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One, Helen McEntee said that she “wouldn’t characterise” the Department of Integration’s decision to house families instead of men in both newly contracted centres as a reversal. 

“We as a Government and the Minister have been very clear that we need to prioritise women and families. That is exactly what we’re doing here,” she said. 

McEntee pushed back on the suggestion that the Government had changed its plans in the face of protests and a string of arson attacks on buildings where it was thought single men seeking international protection were to be housed. 

The Minister acknowledged that the attacks have made it extremely “challenging” to house male refugees and asylum seekers. 

McEntee said that to date, there Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has assured her that Gardaí are following a “strong line of enquiry” in the investigations into arson attacks on a premises in Ringsend that was to house homeless families, and an attack on a premises in Oughterard that was earmarked for asylum seekers. 

“He has been very clear that there will be arrests and that there will be prosecution,” she said. 

McEntee said that she fears the conversation around immigration recently is “legitimising” these attacks. 

“Let’s not say that it’s a lack of communication or a lack of engagement, it’s not a lack of anything, these were criminal acts. They have to be treated as such,” she said. 

McEntee said that the Government does not want to see any of the 500 asylum seekers, whom it has been unable to offer accommodation, to to be sleeping rough on the streets. 

She said that Minister Roderic O’Gorman is due to bring forward a review of the Government’s white paper on direct provision, which will include plans for new reception centres. 

The Catherine Day report recommended that the Government needs to establish six new reception centres for asylum seekers by the end of this year. 

McEntee said that she does not know if any locations have been found for these centres, or what the timeline of the Department of Integration’s plans is. She added that O’Gorman will bring a memo to cabinet on these plans in the coming weeks. 

The Minister said that while she believes that the housing of asylum seekers in different communities across the country should be allocated in a balanced way. 

“Of course it needs to be fairly distributed,” she said, before clarifying that she doesn’t know where all asylum seekers are being housed across the country at present, but that she is aware that some counties have had a higher intake of people. 

McEntee said that the 14 migrants – including two children – who were found by Gardaí inside of a refrigerated trailer at Rosslare Europort this week are all healthy. 

“We could have seen people die here, we’ve had fatalities before,” she said. 

When asked if she can guarantee that the 14 people will be housed, McEntee said “They will be treated the same as anyone else. They will be given an opportunity to tell their story and to give their reason for being here to seek international protection.”

McEntee said that while the Department of Justice is handling an increased number of deportation orders, it is also processing cases more quickly. 

She said that in the “vast majority” of the 836 deportation order cases from last year, the people have left the country. 

McEntee said a small number of forced deportations were carried out, as well as some assisted deportations, while in other cases people left Ireland voluntarily. 

“Where people have a right to be here we are being very fair with supporting them where they don’t we have to be firm and we have to say, you need to leave, you need to go back to your country of origin,” the Minister said. 

She said that the processing of asylum applications will be moving to a “fully online” system in the future to improve turnaround times.