Ms Oonagh Buckley:

If we are not able to achieve the opening of direct provision centres, we will see more people going into emergency accommodation because we have no other way of providing them with a roof over their head. We cannot say what the numbers would be because it is dependent on demand and how many people come into the State seeking asylum or international protection and how many people we are able to move into mainstream housing from the existing direct provision facilities. My staff work hard every day to try to achieve that. It is an entirely demand-led scheme. If we are to meet the basic human requirement of putting a roof over people's heads, we will continue to have to put people into direct provision. Our goal is to add a net 1,200 beds to the direct provision system by the end of the year. We are still hopeful that we will achieve that but, as my colleague mentioned, two centres we sought to open were the subject of attacks, which did not help. It is extremely challenging to manage the process in the current accommodation environment.