I thank the Deputy. As we are on record, it is important to correct his point. I have never sent out a tweet inviting people to Ireland. At the time we published the White Paper we sent out tweets letting people know the changes that were being made, because as the Deputy knows there are a lot of people in the international protection process who wanted to see what changes were being made. We therefore informed them about the plans in the White Paper, but there was never any invite. That is a meme, a trope that dwe…

I thank the Deputy. Just to be clear, 800 international protection applicants are not arriving in the State every week.

I think the most recent figure was about 325 per week and it was somewhere between 250 and 350 over the last number of weeks. At one point in recent weeks the number of Ukrainians arriving was 800, but it is important we get the figures right.

We are working closely with Tipperary County Council to resolve the issue in Cashel. As I have said, it is a core principle of our Department that regardless of how much pressure we are under to meet accommodation needs, we are not going to interfere with existing homelessness services. As I said, we are looking to resolve the particular issue in Cashel right now. Ireland, like every other European country and every other western country, is under pressure right now. There are wars across Asia and Africa. There are…

When an accommodation centre is opened, a designated member of IPAS is responsible for informing centre management of its mandatory obligation to ensure that all staff who are working with children must complete the Children First e-learning module. The designated member ensures that centre managers are categorised as designated liaison persons under Children First and notifies them that they are required to make mandatory reports of concerns relating to children resident in the centre. A designated team in IPAS is…

The Deputy has referred to both Ukraine and international protection. Regarding Ukrainians, the existing responsibilities of accommodation owners in terms of Garda vetting and child safeguarding policies apply. In the context of international protection and, in particular, the report of the ombudsman, I have clearly set out the child safeguarding measures that apply. Undoubtedly, the accommodation challenges - one of the matters on which the Ombudsman's report focuses - place give rise to real issues when it comes …

We are proposing to open a significant amount of accommodation in the Deputy's constituency. It will be solely for Ukrainians. There will be no commercial element to it. I will come back to the Deputy in writing about Garda vetting and the child safeguarding procedures that will be in place in respect of that accommodation. No doubt similar requirements will apply in Stradbally and other locations. Because there will potentially be a significant number of children accommodated there, we are working very closely wit…

Earlier this year, the Work Life Balance And Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 was signed into law. It includes five days leave paid for victims of domestic violence. I am pleased to confirm that the provisions relating to domestic violence leave will be commenced on 27 November. From that day, people will be entitled to claim the leave where needed. Once introduced, Ireland will become one of the first countries in Europe to provide a statutory right to paid leave for domestic violence victims. The introduction of…

Paid parents' leave was originally introduced by the previous Government and offered two weeks of leave per year per parent. At the time, we saw a significant imbalance, in that mums took that leave but dads did not. During the Covid-19 pandemic, that changed. We have now extended it by so much that by August of next year, paid parents' leave will have gone from two weeks per parent per child to nine weeks. That is significant. It is a seven-week increase of paid leave for each parent in the term of one Government.…

I thank the Deputy. He is right. When we were doing the consultation on the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, one of the big issues that employer groups raised was that their members, particularly small and medium-sized business, were nervous about domestic violence leave. They were nervous about getting that knowledge from their employees and what they were to do with the information. They asked did it put legal responsibilities on them. That is why we have worked with Women's Aid to design this …

I thank the Deputy. He and I have spoken and corresponded on the issues pertaining, in particular, to Cork city. Of course, the availability of high-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government policy. The early years sector profile shows there is a national vacancy rate of 12.3%. There is a slightly lower vacancy rate of 9.8% in Cork city. That indicates, as the Deputy said, that there is pressure on services in Cork city. It is important to note that these data do not…

I thank the Deputy. As he knows, there have been specific challenges in place in Cork in recent weeks. The city childcare committee has been very engaged. I know of at least two services where the current owners have indicated they are closing or selling. The county childcare committee has done a lot of work to try to find new people to come in to provide community services. Work is ongoing and I recognise that. While it is a big challenge and is undoubtedly a major concern for parents, we are using the mechanisms …

I fully agree with Deputy Ó Laoghaire that early learning and childcare is a public good. When I came into office, we were spending €638 million per year on it but by next September we will be spending €1.1 billion on it. We have responded and recognised that through investment. One of those investments is the capital scheme, which will be a competitive scheme. Existing services will make applications and one of the key criteria will be applications for areas of low supply, whether that be Achill Island or Cork cit…

In 2021, I announced a review of the Equal Status Act 2000 and the Employment Equality Act 1998, known collectively as the equality Acts. The review is examining the operation of the equality Acts from the perspective of the person taking a claim under its redress mechanisms. It is further examining the degree to which those experiencing discrimination are aware of the legislation and whether there are practical or other obstacles that preclude or deter them from taking an action. In July 2021, I launched a public …

Adding a new ground to the equality legislation and a new protected characteristic in terms of forbidding socioeconomic discrimination is something about which I feel passionately and which the Government committed to examining in the programme for Government. It has been the subject of Private Member's legislation from several parties in this House and the previous Dáil. I will be bringing proposals forward on that ground in terms of the legislative proposals. It is timely. All Deputies have been contacted by peop…

Absolutely. I am happy to engage with the Deputy, particularly on the socioeconomic discrimination ground that I hope to bring forward in that draft legislation. As regards her wider point on poverty, its impact on people and the report launch she attended, a key step my Department was able to take in the budget this year is the introduction of the new equal participation model in early years. It is a DEIS approach for early years which recognises there are particular early years services that have a significant nu…

As the Deputy will be aware, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine thousands of people have had to flee their homes and seek refuge. The State is currently providing accommodation to over 74,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine. As part of this very significant national effort, the Government approved the construction of 700 rapid-build homes on State-owned land, which aims to provide accommodation for 2,800 individuals in family units. The Office of Public Works, OPW, is leading on the design, de…

At all times we have worked within the confines of the temporary protection directive and we will continue to work within its confines. We will not do anything in breach of the temporary protection directive. As I am sure the Deputy is aware, it is interpreted in different ways across many member states, and many member states have taken a much more stringent and a much tighter approach to the rights they offer to Ukrainians under the temporary protection directive. We have taken the generous approach here in Irela…

In my initial response to Deputy Harkin, I spoke about the 700 OPW modular builds, which are small but are of a very high spec. I think they have an A3 rating. They consist of living space with two bedrooms - a double bedroom and a bedroom with two bunk beds - and a toilet facility. There is a small kitchenette in the living space as well. They are for the use of Ukrainians for up to three years. After that point, local authorities will make a determination on whether they want to continue to use them. I believe th…

Until the Cabinet agrees a particular policy, I will not be in a position to go into detail or to talk to the message because that would only cause confusion. This question is a good opportunity to remind the House that we continue to accommodate Ukrainians and international protection applicants. As the Deputy knows, we accommodate Ukrainians primarily in serviced accommodation, but also in the modular accommodation we spoke about a few moments ago. We have also been undertaking a programme of refurbishment of exi…