Roderic O’Gorman accused of creating a ‘permanent blight’ with ‘tent city’ for homeless asylum seekers

Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan said in a letter to the minister there had been exponential growth in the “tent city” of refugees outside the International Protection Office (IPO) in Mount Street.

It is an “appalling situation” that has been allowed to fester, he said, and was considerably worse than ever before.

“The number of people in tents is growing on a daily basis,” he wrote.

There are an estimated 1,000 asylum seekers homeless, with about 220 now in the encampment, where conditions have been described as appalling with no hygiene facilities.

There are now approximately 150 tents, he said. These were now blocking the public footpath “preventing wheelchair users and other members of the public” from being able to pass.

Mr O’Callaghan said the “whole area is now a complete mess with rubbish and detritus everywhere to a much more severe degree than in previous weeks”.

“It is now a permanent blight on our city — particularly as our national holiday approaches,” he said, referring to St Patrick’s Day.

It will also get worse, given the lack of space at the IPO, he said.

“There is a significant risk that there will be an outbreak of disease in the area,” Mr O’Callaghan warned.

“This will have very detrimental consequences, not only on the applicants in tents but also on the people in the surrounding vicinity.

“It is simply unacceptable that the State is permitting such an unauthorised development on one of our busiest streets.”

He said the authorities had to “make some effort to inform the applicants that they are not permitted to camp there”.

As to where they should go, he said it cannot be a solution “that they simply pitch up tents on a busy street”.

Some other outdoor location should be identified, he said, “where tented accommodation and hygiene facilities can be provided”.

The Government “needs to engage with the reality” of an influx “that we demonstrably cannot handle,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

An estimated 60pc of arrivals “are economic migrants. Their presence damages those who have come here legitimately seeking International Protection”, he said.

“Much more needs to be done to reduce the number entering to a level that can be accommodated.” He wants for resumed checks at airplane doors at Dublin Airport so that “anyone without documents” is refused disembarkation.

“Action now needs to be taken by Government so more countries are added to our list of safe countries,” he said.

“We are way behind many other EU countries, notwithstanding the great humanity and sympathy that Irish people and Government have shown.

“Otherwise, we will inevitably face an even greater proliferation of tents not just in Mount Street but throughout many other parts of Dublin.

“This is a difficult issue and there are no simple solutions. Nonetheless, we cannot allow the situation to continue as it is.”