John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister. There has been a huge increase in funding, which is understandable given the major pressures the State is under in terms of the need to accommodate internationally displaced people and people fleeing the war in Ukraine. Part of the problem with funding is the for-profit system we have. Key players are providing accommodation and are making extraordinary amounts of money. In some cases, albeit limited, they provide what I would class as substandard and overcrowded accommodation, and questionable food on top of that.

In terms of the for profit model, in particular direct provision, the White Paper from 2021 referred to ending direct provision by the end of 2024. The Minister acknowledged that those targets will be difficult to meet. It was stated earlier in the summer that there was to be a revised plan to come before Cabinet last month. Has that plan come before the Cabinet? When will it be published? It will make for interesting reading given that, as the Minister said, the targets will not be met.

It is very difficult to estimate the numbers who will come to seek refuge on these shores. However, the Parliamentary Budget Office has in a pre-budget report estimated that the number of Ukrainians coming to seek refuge on these shores may increase to 110,000 by early next year, based on the current figures of 3,000 Ukrainian refugees seeking and obtaining PPS numbers each month.

Are those the figures the Department is working off? If that is the case, given that the figures are expected to continue to rise, will the €1 billion that we know is needed be part of the budget when it is announced next week as opposed to a contingency arrangement?

I will leave it at that. I have other questions, but perhaps the Minister could respond to those first.