Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady challenged Minister Roderic O’Gorman in the Dáil today, accusing his department of attempting to deceive Wicklow residents regarding the future use of River Lodge House at Trudder Newtownmountkennedy.
Brady said:
“In County Wicklow, we have a situation where the department are not only failing to communicate with a local community and public representatives regarding the future use of River Lodge House at Trudder. but appear to be actively deceiving them around its intent.
Newtownmountkennedy is the fastest growing village in the state, and public services and amenities have not kept pace with this growth, and the fact that the government have failed to carry out community audits has exacerbated the challenges that the community face.
For years the community in Newtownmountkennedy, have campaigned to have a former local HSE facility transferred to community use at River Lodge House.
In this time, we were repeatedly informed by the department that the premises were unfit for human use.
The Minister and the Department continue to insist that no decision has been taken regarding the use of the site by IPAS, while the reality being witnessed by local people on the ground suggests that the opposite appears to be the case.
There is no escaping the fact that there is a clear attempt here to hoodwink the community and public representatives.
The reality on the ground is that locals are looking at bulldozers on site stripping back topsoil, putting in hardcore stone, along with prefabs.
Is there any wonder that local communities are reacting in anger. It needs to be said that it is government actions that are fostering local anger and protests.
The governments approach is not working, it exposes a chaotic approach to immigration which has failed communities and International Protection Applicants.
The crux of the situation is that there is no government plan for immigration.
We need a rules-based system, with the rules actually implemented, that is a fair, efficient, and enforced system, with proper communication with communities.
The government approach has been shambolic from the outset and continues to this day. There is no plan, no consistent approach, and they are not working with local communities.
What we have seen from the government has been an absolute lack of coherence, they have bounced from crisis to crisis, failing to address any of the core issues underpinning the crisis.
Leading to a system that takes years to process applications, with zero enforcement at the end of the day. If a decision is made to refuse the application, it is not enforced.
We have consistently and vociferously argued the need for a fair, efficient, and effective immigration system. With proper engagement with host communities, dealing with core issues of capacity in local services.
If an application fails, it should be enforced in a timely manner, returning people safely to their country of origin. We need to speed up the processing of IP applicants. It is completely unacceptable that it is taking years in some situations. This is overwhelming an already stretched system, creating bottlenecks in accommodation.
There is an onus on the Minister to take into consideration the challenges the community in Newtownmountkennedy already face. The service and amenity deficiencies that already exist within the area need to be addressed immediately.
The decision not to audit services in the area, coupled with the fact the need for community facilities such as River Lodge House, leaves any decision to use the facility for IPAS accommodation as a retrograde decision”