Mosney under the Spotlight

Oireachtas Health Committee to Make Inquiries Regarding Situation of Asylum Seekers When it Visits Mosney Complex



Members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children intend to raise the matter of asylum seekers being moved from the Mosney accommodation centre in Co Meath when members of this all party group visit the complex.
Concerns have been expressed over the weekend in some quarters regarding the proposed move which according to reports will mean that at least 150 asylum seekers many of whom have been living in Mosney for several years will be moved to alternative accommodation. It has also been claimed that the affected asylum seekers were given only a few days advance notice of this development.
Committee Chairman, Sean O Fearghaill TD said;
The Committee had already resolved to visit the facility prior to this information coming into the public domain. So I am quite certain that Committee members will want to find out why this decision was taken and on what basis it was arrived at.
It seems that many of the asylum seekers who are to be moved are extremely upset by the proposal and intend to protest against this measure. They are unhappy that they will be forced to leave a place where some of them have lived for several years and have made their home.
Initial reports suggest that costs motives are the main factor behind this step but our visit will give Committee members the opportunity to try to establish the exact reasoning behind this measure. It will also allow the Committee a chance to tour and inspect the facility.
Mosney was established as an accommodation centre for asylum seekers in 2001. Approximately 6,000 asylum seekers live there.