My Department was providing-----

My Department was providing accommodation to 7,500 thousand people in December 2021 and is now providing accommodation to more than 100,000 people. No other Department has ever had to meet such an enormous humanitarian challenge in such a tight period. I have always accepted in this House that the response has not been perfect and there are elements we could do better. If we had known there was going to be a war in Ukraine breaking out in February 2022, we could have done things differently, but we did not know tha…

I thank the Deputy. We have in place an efficient system for the processing of Ukrainians arriving here seeking temporary protection.

The system for Ukrainians has worked extremely well and that is why we have been able to welcome-----

-----more than 100,000 Ukrainians and allow them integrate into communities all over the country. Regarding IP the system was not fit for purpose. It was a system in which people were spending from six to eight years trying to get their application processed. That is why the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has made major changes. She has doubled the number of staff in the international protection office. The staff are processing more than 1,000 applications every month to give people their first-instance decision. We hav…

We have tightened up those rules and we will continue to examine the system to-----

-----make sure they are robust for the numbers of those seeking international protection now.

I thank the Deputy. In January of last year. I led a delegation to a hearing of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva. The committee welcomed the progress Ireland has made to respect children’s rights, including the Children First Act 2015 and other legislative and policy measures. That Act operates side by side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017. Young Ireland: the National Policy Framework for Childre…

That is very much central to the child care (amendment) Bill 2023, which has undergone pre-legislative scrutiny. Deputy Funchion is present; her committee reviewed it. There is an extensive set of recommendations. One of the key elements is a recognition that for probably some of the children who are most vulnerable, the solution to their situation does not just rest with Tusla. It may rest with CAMHS also or with children's disability services. One of the key things we are trying to do is to create a more integrat…

I thank the Deputy and the other local TDs for their ongoing engagement on this matter. Ireland is now accommodating more than 100,000 people, between those fleeing the war in Ukraine and international protection applicants. Our accommodation system is under real pressure now. With all the limited accommodation capacity in the international protection accommodation services, IPAS, system being used and given the significantly increased number of arrivals in the context of accommodation shortages, my Department has …

The Deputy speaks of a cooling-off period as if these are easy decisions that our Department is taking in a normal time. Again, we are responding to a humanitarian crisis and imminent homelessness. We have already seen that we are unable to provide accommodation for more than 1,000 male applicants as of today. We are close to being in that situation with families and female applicants as well. I wish I was in the position where I had cooling-off periods in these situations, but I am not in that position, because I …

We do not sign contracts without evidence of compliance with fire certification. On the final point, the Deputy spoke of 220 spaces that are available in Drogheda. Those are spaces that under Government decisions can only be used by beneficiaries of temporary protection by Ukrainians.

With respect to the Deputy, that is true.

They are not available for the use of international protection-----

They are not available for the use of international protection-----

------applicants.

On the basis that they are within the refurbishment programme, they are only available to beneficiaries of temporary protection.

That is true.

I hope Deputy Cronin might extend an old cupán tae to me as well during the revolution, because I certainly would like to be a part of assisting it.

I want to begin by welcoming all present for our debate on the joint committee's report Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality. As both Deputies have already described, the overarching goal of the report is to achieve gender equality within our society by means of a variety of targeted actions. That goal is also a key tenet of my Department's mission. This is outlined in our stated of strategy of working towards "a fair and inclusive society, where everyone can reach their full potential". In particular, e…