Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Buckley and Mr. Delaney. I have no doubt about their personal sincerity in dealing with this challenging issue. I have no doubt about the Government in this regard either. I also pay tribute to the former Minister of State with special responsibility in this area, Deputy Stanton. I may be from a different political party, but we had to deal with big issues in Roscommon for a long time. It was an even more challenging situation then because there was, shall we say, a lack of understanding in some quarters for the plight of some of the poor people involved. The then Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, was remarkably cool in handling the issue and dealt well with what was a difficult situation. I just want to put that on the record.

We are all saddened by the terrible loss of life yesterday. We sometimes watch documentaries and world news and see what many of these people are going through and what they will do to escape their countries. In general, the vast majority of Irish people want to help these people. An element will challenge us as politicians.

It is important that as politicians we stand up for those people and we make sure that in coming out of those many tragic situations they are supported by this nation. Ireland has always had a good record of helping people in very difficult situations.

As I had to leave the meeting for a few minutes, I do not know whether the witnesses have already answered the following question. How many applications are processed annually and what is the waiting time for a decision? As I said, if that question has been already answered, that is fine; I will get the answer from the transcript of the meeting. In light of Covid, can the new system be fully operational by 2024? There is no doubt that is going to be a huge challenge. I am interested in hearing more about the chatbot system. The title tells one a certain amount, but how exactly does it work? The witnesses appear to be very positive about the results coming from it.

If the witnesses are not in a position to answer any of my questions today, they can come back to me directly.