A Minister should be appointed specifically to deal with asylum seeker accommodation as tents grow in Dublin city, a Councillor has said.
Efforts are underway to find alternative accommodation for dozens of asylum seekers who have pitched tents in Dublin city.
Around 80 tents are along the Grand Canal in the capital.
It comes as the number of asylum seekers who arrived in Ireland in the first four months of the year has increased by 95% when compared to the same period last year.
Labour Councillor Dermot Lacey told Lunchtime Live the State has the capacity to house more people.
"It's not a solution for the people who are living in those awful conditions and it's not a solution for people who are living in the general area," he said.
"The solution is that the State starts to use the properties that the State currently owns to house people.
"Another thing that needs to be done is that IPAS needs to develop a more outreach service; so they will go out to the places that people are living in order to process these applications."
'Short-term authority'
Cllr Lacey said a Minister should be given specific responsibility for this issue.
"It is, in my view, a task that is too big for the current Department that has responsibility [for it] - that Department has many other responsibilities," he said.
"I think there needs to be a Minister who's given a short-term authority and brief to deal with this particular issue.
"There are a number of very senior in particular former Fine Gael ministers who are sitting on the backbenches who I think would have the stature and the capacity to take this on.
"Somebody with authority needs to be appointed to grab this issue by the neck".
Cllr Lacey while he mean no disrespect to Minister O'Gorman, "he's Minister for about 10 different titles".
'Shifted the problem'
Owner of The Punnet Health Store on Lower Mount Street, Michael Finlay, said removing the tents last week just moved the problem.
"People in the area, while they were relieved to have the operation undertaken on Wednesday... we are concerned that really there was no forward planning from there," he said.
"They just seem to have shifted the problem from one area to the next.
"It's literally 100 metres down the road along the Grand Canal now."
Asylum seekers tents along the Grand Canal in Dublin, 4-5-24. Image: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ieMr Finlay said ultimately Ireland cannot sustain the numbers of people entering the country.
"The way I look at it is it's simply a numbers game," he said.
"Even if we repurpose different properties around the country I don't think we can sustain the numbers coming through.
"Somebody needs to get a hold of the situation and get a solution that's fair for both people living in the area and people living in the tents".
Mr Finlay said it feels like a duty of care is missing "for both the residents in the area and the migrants in the tents".
'Inter-agency efforts' on Dublin tents
South Georgian Core Residents’ Association Chairperson and local resident Dr Kevin Byrne said they are worried.
"We very much welcomed the operation last Wednesday to clear the encampment that had been on Lower Mount Street," he said.
"But obviously we're worried to see it reoccur so close so soon afterwards on the Grand Canal.
"We're a bit worried that the inter-agency efforts that were there on Wednesday seem to have disappeared a bit at this point."
Asylum seekers tents along the Grand Canal in Dublin, 7-5-24. Image: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ieDr Byrne said he hopes there is work ongoing in the background.
"The buck passing between agencies was a feature of the last 14 months, so we'd be concerned if that's coming back again," he said.
"It's a dreadful situation for the asylum seekers to find themselves in the tents and throughout this residents have felt for the situation they're in.
"But it's also having a huge impact on residents and businesses in the area".
Dr Byrne added that they are "disappointed" to see another tent encampment so soon after the previous one.
