Paul Hosford: Refugee policy row draws attention as Coalition enters its final 16 months
Leaders Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, and Eamon Ryan had presented a united front. Picture: Julian Behal/PA
Three parties, a rotating Taoiseach, and the complexities of a global pandemic were pointed to as reasoning for this, and a summer in which two Cabinet members lost their jobs, while the reopening was stop-start, did little to convince people otherwise.
But since then, the tripartite agreement has sailed along with little threatening to take it down. There have been storms to be weathered, but the parties have largely retained a united front on those.
All of which has made this week’s row about how long Ukrainian refugees are offered in State accommodation so eye-catching, in both tone and subject matter.
On Monday, the reported that the Government would deviate massively from existing policy and bring in a new policy, under which Ukrainians will have to either find accommodation in the private rental sector or take a pledged property through the offer-a-home scheme, after three months in State-provided accommodation.
At that time, Tánaiste Micheál Martin was in Luxembourg for the European Foreign Affairs Council and was unable to return to Ireland, because the Air Corps Pilatus PC12 plane tasked to bring him home was under repair. This meant that he missed being at the weekly Monday night meeting of the three Coalition leaders in person, and is said to have left the meeting under the impression that the plan would be raised at a later date. It has been suggested that Mr Martin was not briefed on the plan, but this has been disputed by Government sources.
On Tuesday, the Tánaiste returned to Dublin by commercial flight and, when the issue was raised at the end of that morning’s Cabinet meeting, accused Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman, during a 40-minute “heated” exchange between senior ministers, of trying to push responsibility onto Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien through his “90-day plan”.
Ministers voiced concerns, particularly that if Ukrainians did not receive alternative accommodation after the 90 days are up, it would only add to the existing high levels of homelessness.
Cabinet sources said Mr O’Gorman was “visibly agitated” and “vented” after “intense pushback” from Mr Martin and Mr O’Brien in “one of the most divisive” disagreements in the Coalition, with every Fianna Fáil minister at the Cabinet table “backing up” Mr Martin, and Fine Gael ministers agreeing that a better thought-through plan was required.
However, Fine Gael ministers have backed the plan’s outline publicly.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the reality was that Ireland’s system was under pressure.
“What is becoming increasingly apparent to everyone is that while there is no limit on the compassion of the Irish Government or the Irish people, there is a limit on our capacity,” he said, while Simon Harris argued that the “status quo” could no longer continue.
The discussion ended with an agreement for Mr O’Gorman to come back to Cabinet with a more “comprehensive” plan, incorporating feed-in from other departments.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has been asked to look at changes to income support for Ukrainian refugees, to examine if it is in line with other EU countries, and whether payments should be reduced, amid fears of what Mr Martin called a “phenomenon”.
One Green Party source said that Mr O’Gorman had been given “an unenviable task” in dealing with the refugee crisis, and felt he had been “left alone” to deal with the accommodation end.
They added that it was unfair to make him responsible for “a decision that has to be made”.
With the news reaching Ukrainian media on Wednesday, it seemed that this could be an issue that the Government was distinctly divided on.
But by Thursday, it seemed that the Coalition was back to steadier footing, as Mr Martin told reporters that any suggestion of a row had been “exaggerated”, but conceded that there had been a “robust discussion” at Cabinet on Mr O’Gorman’s plans.
“So, I think it’s a bit exaggerated to say there was a row.
“I think there have been many challenging issues that have come before us,” he said.
But as the lifetime of this Government enters its last 16 months, challenging issues may become even more challenging as each side looks for some clear blue water before asking for votes.
