The Department of Integration has informed Monaghan County Council their proposal to use HQ Accommodation as a temporary emergency accommodation centre has now been "placed on hold".
Last Monday, Monaghan County Councillors received an email from Roderic O'Gorman at the department, to say that number 50 Main Street, Carrickmacross had been earmarked for International Protection accommodation. In the days that followed the elected members of Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District convened a Special meeting of the Municipal District Council to discuss their concenrs and those of the wider public.
The council also wrote the minister to advise there are a number of non-compliance issues pertaining to Fire Safety, Building Regulations and Planning, requirements at the dis-used building. Then on Friday, a meeting with local Oireachtas members took place.
A communiqué from the Department of Integration has now confirmed the proposal to use the Carrickmacross property as a temporary emergency accommodation centre has been placed on hold until all concerns are addressed. The elected members of Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District issued a collective statement in which they said: "We are determined to ensure complete transparency in the procedures applied in welcoming international protection applicants into our communities.
"Fundamental to this, is ensuring that the accommodation provided meets the required standards. Providers of facilities must be held to account, and greater oversight exercised in the selection of prospective properties. The statement continued "Basic humanitarian needs, including fit for purpose accommodation, medical care and education provision must be prioritised in the selection of suitable facilities."
A full joint statement can be found bellow from elected members of Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District:
“As locally elected representatives, we are duty-bound to protect the interests, not only of the communities we serve, but also the wellbeing of those joining our communities. It is therefore paramount that we are kept fully informed on developments of this nature and the processes that apply in the selection of properties for use as temporary emergency accommodation centres. As recently as last November, we were advised by council officials that the property concerned was not considered fit for purpose as an emergency accommodation centre".
"At Friday’s meeting, it was confirmed to us, that in the considered opinion of the officials of Monaghan County Council, the property referred to as HQ Accommodation continues to remain unsuitable as an emergency accommodation centre. Moreover, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has advised that the proposal to use HQ Accommodation as a temporary emergency accommodation centre has now been placed on hold. This apparently contradictory communication from the Department, in the space of less than a week, does little to inspire public confidence and is totally unacceptable".
"We are determined to ensure complete transparency in the procedures applied in welcoming international protection applicants into our communities. Fundamental to this, is ensuring that the accommodation provided meets the required standards. Providers of facilities must be held to account, and greater oversight exercised in the selection of prospective properties. Basic humanitarian needs, including fit for purpose accommodation, medical care and education provision must be prioritised in the selection of suitable facilities. Public monies cannot, and must not, be spent on sub-standard facilities. Over the coming week, we the elected members of Carrickmacross-Castleblayney Municipal District, through the offices of our respective parties, shall be seeking an urgent meeting with Minister Roderic O’Gorman and his department officials to provide answers. The current situation cannot continue".
