Refugee accommodation: Councils cannot have ‘a la carte’ relationship with Government, says Taoiseach

Local authorities cannot have an a la carte relationship with central Government, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said in the wake of a motion passed by councillors in Mayo calling for co-operation on refugee accommodation to end.

On Monday, a motion was passed at Mayo County Council calling on local authority staff to immediately cease co-operation with the Department of Integration in relation to housing refugees and asylum seekers.

It was passed unanimously with councillors from Government parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, among those backing the motion.

However, management at the local authority has not given a commitment to implement the non-cooperation demand with a statement saying: “the content of the resolution adopted by Council remains under consideration.”

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The Department of Integration said it will continue to work with Mayo County Council.

Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar said: “my understanding is that the motion was non-binding so it’s a motion that was passed by the councillors but has no effect”.

Asked for his response to the motion and Fine Gael councillors supporting it, Mr Varadkar said: “I didn’t hear about this until the motion passed and had gone through.

“But certainly what I’ll be saying to the Fine Gael team in Mayo and everyone at Mayo County Council is it’s not the case that you can have an a la carte relationship with Government departments, refuse to co-operate with some when you’re asked to do something, and then apply for funding from five others.

“That’s not a tenable position.”

He said local authorities get funding from central Government Departments such as Transport and Environment and “Mayo County Council is one that would receive very significant grants”.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar said he has asked Ministers to put together a package to support places that are under the most pressure due to the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers.

The intention is for the plans to be ready in time for approval at the first Cabinet meeting in February.

Ten locations around the country are to be provided with a special package of supports that could see extra resources given for health, education and policing.

It comes amid concern within Government about the increasing number of protests outside buildings due to be used to accommodate asylum seekers and refugees.

Mr Varadkar did not offer an indication of the funding involved.

He noted there is an existing Community Recognition Fund and said: “one option is opening that to new applications or finding ways to make it more flexible because there has been some difficulty in drawing down some of the existing money and getting some of the existing projects off the ground.”

He said he has also asked the departments of Health, Education and Justice in particular to see what they can do in relation to primary care access, schools and policing resources.

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