I have supplied the Deputy as part of my answer to him a table in tabular form with all the information for every county. I have outlined the total figures to him. It is important to recognise that, as part of an ongoing process, we are moving toward a reduction and eventual elimination of this accommodation situation. There will be a motion coming forward in the Dáil next week regarding the extension of the accommodation recognition payment, ARP. Temporary protection is something that was brought in by the Europea…

Obviously, that is not within my area. That would be more within the area of the Minister with responsibility on the tourism side. From our point of view as a Department, what we want to do is facilitate the return of beds to the sector so that they are there and available. Like the Deputy, I would like to see, particularly in a wonderful county like Clare, that those beds would go back into the accommodation, tourism and hospitality sectors. Hospitality and tourism are key drivers for economics in a whole host of …

I thank the Deputy. The accommodation recognition payment was introduced to recognise the generosity of people who opened their homes to provide accommodation to beneficiaries of temporary protection in Ireland who fled the war in Ukraine. The ARP scheme is provided in Part 2 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 and is administered by the Department of Social Protection on behalf of our Department. The scheme involves a monthly payment of €600 to a host in respect of providing accommodation in accor…

The scheme has worked, but the time for the scheme should come to an orderly conclusion. Like all temporary schemes, I believe you must look, introduce where needed and phase out where it is no longer appropriate. It is therefore my view that we will be extending the scheme as indicated for 12 months. This will be part of a phasing out process of the ARP. It will also be the intention to reduce the payment from €600 to €400 as part of that phasing out of ARP. That will enable us to have a gradual winding down of th…

I acknowledge what the Deputy is saying but we have to remember how the process of temporary protection came about. It was a temporary process in reaction to accommodation being made available to provide for Ukrainians who had fled from a war. It was designed and put in place as a very particular measure and to facilitate people welcoming people into their homes. It is something for which its time and place is naturally coming to a conclusion. There is a better and fairer way to do it, which allows everyone to have…

I begin by joining the Deputy in offering my sympathies to Deputy Colm Burke. The registration office of the Department is currently experiencing an exceptionally high demand for immigration permission renewal applications. This has regrettably reduced the timeline of the service to our customers. I understand that the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants but I assure the Deputy the Department is exploring every avenue available to facilitate as many customers as possible. I had a meeting with my o…

I will do so. As part of that assurance, it is important to say if a person's IRP card has expired and he or she is unable to obtain his or her new one by the expiry date, he or she is still legally permitted to remain in the State. His or her existing IRP card has another maximum of 12 weeks. I fully acknowledge it is frustrating and worrying for people going through this process but, again, I assure the Deputy resources are being put into it to try to eliminate the delays being experienced because of high volume …

We want an efficient and effective service that allows for the fact of those 12 weeks and the fact people are getting a turnaround. There are some exceptional reasons for the surge in demand in terms of the number of people applying. There are particular surge points at different times a year where the numbers go up. We are putting the technology and the systems in place that we believe will allow us to manage this and deliver on the timeline we want to see for people getting their renewals.

I thank the Senators. I propose to respond to amendments Nos. 16, 380 and 381 together. I am not accepting the amendments. I believe amendment No. 16 would restrict the State's ability to deal with the capacity issues in a flexible manner. Having a fixed definition for a component of the asylum process that is subject to fluctuation depending on the numbers of individuals seeking international protection would limit the State's ability to respond to sudden increases in arrival and would place the State in a legally…

I acknowledge the earlier points made by the Senator. The provisions of the reception conditions directive will be given effect by new sections that are proposed to be inserted into the Bill by amendments that we will discuss later. On the system which we operate, many of the things that the Senator has outlined are exactly what I always want to see. I want to see a system that works, is fair and deals with people in a compassionate way. I want to see a system that works to the best, which is why I believe what we …

I really welcome the opportunity to address Dáil Éireann today regarding the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill 2018 on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. Unfortunately he is in Brussels today and that is the only reason he is not here. At the outset, I acknowledge the work that has brought us to this point, some of which was so well described by Deputy Gannon. This Bill was first introduced to Seanad Éireann in 2018 by Senator Ruane. It completed all…

I thank the Senator for raising and putting a light on what is an important issue. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is fully committed to supporting victims and survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, irrespective of gender, and to ensuring that services in Ireland are accessible, effective and responsive to identified needs. The Government absolutely recognises that men and boys can be victims and survivors of domestic abuse. Through the delivery of the third national D…

That is a very important point to relay to Men’s Aid. I will obviously convey the Senator’s remarks to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, who I know has done significant work in this area since becoming Minister. It is very important to have the recognition that the services provided are gender neutral, but I fully take on board the Senator’s comments that there is that problem area of men maybe not wanting to engage with services that they perceive as being particularly in one area, an area that for various reasons…

I echo that; they are all very welcome. I am very pleased to introduce the International Protection Bill 2026, following its recent passage through Dáil Éireann. Migration has been a distinctive feature of Ireland’s history. In recent years, ours is a country that is now able to provide the opportunities those who emigrated once sought. Over the years, we have seen the invaluable contribution that foreign-born workers have made in Ireland. The Government is very clear about the value of migration to Ireland. The va…

I thank the Senators for today's debate and productive engagement. It is fair to say that this is an area where there has been a real range of engagement this evening. We really get the breadth and depth of opinion. I welcome the opportunity to conclude by commenting on some of the individual issues . I also want to take the opportunity to talk about one or two more general matters. Whether we are talking about this Bill or any other matters, it is important to recognise that we are part of Europe. Some people do n…

Fundamentally, that is good for the applicant and good for the State. There are huge benefits, which is why we have chosen to opt in. There is a point I would make, one that I think Senator Gallagher made in his contribution as well. We have seen the one state that thought it could go off and do this on its own, namely, leave the European Union and devise a totally independent one-off solution, bring absolute chaos onto itself by trying to do that. Senator Higgins and I have a lot of differences of opinion on the n…

No.

We are obviously not accepting this amendment. I do not know if Sinn Féin fell asleep in 2024 but its members have gone assiduously out of their way - I know they would not do so deliberately - not to mention the new rate card introduced in May 2025 or acknowledge that this rate card is delivering €83 million in savings to the State. It has been applied across 147 centres and the process of putting in place these contracts has been overhauled. The State's objective is always to ensure we have a robust system that d…

The Deputy mentioned 2023 to 2024 three times. He never said anything about 2025.

The purpose of having a rate card and delivering those savings, which are in the millions of euro, while having a transparent process under which payments of over €20,000 are recorded is to have a system where people can see what has been paid and we have an ability to negotiate and deliver the best value for money for the taxpayer. When every contract comes up, and there are 147 of them so far since the summer of last year, it goes through a process that appraises it and looks to deliver the best value for money a…