A legal amendment that would have forced the State to carry out community impact assessments before opening asylum centres has been voted down by Government and several leftwing opposition TDs.
Speaking during a Dáil debate on the International Protection Bill 2026 on Wednesday, Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said the proposal was “eminently sensible.”
“I am really surprised there has been a suggestion by leftwing parties that we should reject an amendment that is simply calling for a community impact assessment before a development takes place,” the Cavan-Monaghan TD said.
“To suggest this is a left-right issue is completely false.”
Fellow party member Pearse Doherty expressed frustration at the high concentration of asylum accommodation in areas already suffering from a lack of resources.
“From a planning point of view, it is as if the Government was to sit down and just say it has an issue of where to locate people and that it will put most of them in the most deprived county in the country,” the Donegal TD said.
“It made no sense from a planning point of view.”
However, the proposal faced stiff opposition from Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger, who argued that requiring such an assessment would only embolden anti-migration campaigners.
“This is a recipe for the far right to stoke up fear and to grow in every single community in the area,” the Dublin West TD said.
“To suggest that no IPAS accommodation can be provided for people just adds to the racism and fear that is operating in communities.”
She further accused Sinn Féin of distributing a leaflet with “racist far-right talking points” and “conspiracy stuff”.
“I have seen a leaflet given out in Dublin Central that says that Sinn Féin will manage migration,” she said.
“To be honest, the leaflet uses some racist far-right talking points. It talks about profiteering. That is all a lot of Sinn Féin’s speakers have talked about.
“I have heard them several times over the last week talking about people being made into millionaires and about global market forces deciding our migration policy. These really are far-right talking points. It is conspiracy stuff. There are words that are not mentioned at all in the leaflet. Racism is not mentioned at all in the leaflet distributed in Dublin Central.”
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore also criticised the tone of the proposal’s backers, accusing them of framing the arrival of asylum seekers exclusively as a negative event.
“If I was someone who had been through the asylum process or who was currently in the asylum process, the impression I would get from TD after TD who spoke on it was that having asylum seekers in your community is the worst possible thing to happen to a community,” the Wicklow TD said.
“That is the message I would have picked up from what Sinn Fein was saying.
“…What Sinn Féin failed to do was to understand that, in many situations, a community can take on and really open their arms to people within the asylum process and to IPAS centres.”
Sinn Féin TD Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin hit back at the criticism, pointing out that wealthy areas rarely see the same concentration of asylum accommodation.
“At the end of the day, for me, it comes down to the best way to unite people, which is just to listen to the people, listen to local communities and try to have fair planning policies,” the Wexford TD said.
“How many centres are in Dalkey? How many centres are in Foxrock?”
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan rejected the amendment on behalf of the Government, stating that locals could not be permitted to block the opening of a centre.
“We all know that we cannot give a veto to individuals in a community when it comes to whether the State is going to open international protection accommodation centre there,” the Fianna Fáil Minister said.
“People do not like change. They talk about change. Some people are fearful of change but, in general, my assessment is a lot of people do not like change and the unknown.”
The amendment was ultimately defeated by 88 votes to 53, with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Green Party TDs voting against it, alongside several opposition members.
The International Protection Bill 2026 seeks to overhaul the State’s asylum processing system. It is currently being debated under a guillotine motion, which restricts the time available for parliamentary scrutiny.
Sinn Féin:
Cathy Bennett
John Brady
Pat Buckley
Joanna Byrne
Matt Carthy
Sorca Clarke
Rose Conway-Walsh
Réada Cronin
Seán Crowe
David Cullinane
Pa Daly
Máire Devine
Pearse Doherty
Paul Donnelly
Dessie Ellis
Mairéad Farrell
Thomas Gould
Ann Graves
Johnny Guirke
Claire Kerrane
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
Donna McGettigan
Conor D. McGuinness
Denise Mitchell
Johnny Mythen
Natasha Newsome Drennan
Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh
Louis O’Hara
Louise O’Reilly
Darren O’Rourke
Eoin Ó Broin
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin
Maurice Quinlivan
Mark Ward
Social Democrats:
Gary Gannon
Sinéad Gibney
Jennifer Whitmore
Pádraig Rice
Eoin Hayes
Jen Cummins
Rory Hearne
Cian O’Callaghan
Aidan Farrelly
Liam Quaide
Aontú:
Paul Lawless
Peadar Tóibín
Independent Ireland:
Ken O’Flynn
Michael Fitzmaurice
Independent:
Brian Stanley
Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Fianna Fáil:
Dara Calleary
James Lawless
Jim O’Callaghan
Robert Troy
Jerry Buttimer
Albert Dolan
Timmy Dooley
James O’Connor
Willie O’Dea
Niall Collins
Malcolm Byrne
Paul McAuliffe
Niamh Smyth
Christopher O’Sullivan
Naoise Ó Cearúil
Seán Ó Fearghaíl
Cathal Crowe
James Browne
Catherine Ardagh
Cormac Devlin
John Lahart
Mary Butler
Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere
Martin Daly
Shay Brennan
John Connolly
Aisling Dempsey
Sean Fleming
Tony McCormack
Séamus McGrath
Erin McGreehan
Michael Moynihan
Shane Moynihan
Jennifer Murnane O’Connor
Ryan O’Meara
Eamon Scanlon
Fine Gael:
Alan Dillon
Grace Boland
Neale Richmond
Patrick O’Donovan
Micheál Carrigy
Emer Higgins
James Geoghegan
Hildegarde Naughton
Barry Ward
Frankie Feighan
John Paul O’Shea
Martin Heydon
William Aird
Brian Brennan
Colm Brophy
Paula Butterly
Catherine Callaghan
John Clendennen
Joe Cooney
Emer Currie
Keira Keogh
David Maxwell
Noel McCarthy
Michael Murphy
Maeve O’Connell
Kieran O’Donnell
Naoise Ó Muirí
Peter Roche
John Cummins
Edward Timmins
Labour:
Ivana Bacik
Alan Kelly
George Lawlor
Eoghan Kenny
Ged Nash
Marie Sherlock
Duncan Smith
Mark Wall
Robert O’Donoghue
Conor Sheehan
Independent:
Seán Canney
Kevin Boxer Moran
Noel Grealish
Gillian Toole
Barry Heneghan
Marian Harkin
Michael Lowry
Seamus Healy
PBP:
Ruth Coppinger
Richard Boyd Barrett
Paul Murphy
Green Party:
Roderic O’Gorman