Mr. Eddie Casey:

We have just started looking at this issue because, thankfully, we have started to get data from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, on claimants who are recently arrived refugees. We can see how much they are drawing in regular welfare supports, child benefit and other assistance payments. We can then guess how much accommodation costs per household. The €3 billion looks to be high but also seems to be an appropriate upper bound on what the cost might be. It would take into consideration that these people might be put into hotels for a long time to come. The reality is there is a risk that could happen. It could be very expensive. If the accommodation costs change because those people are moved to longer term housing solutions, the cost should come down. Accommodation cost is a considerable driver of expense. We are beginning to understand why the costs were put at a high level by international standards. It is reflective of the environment here where there is already pressure on housing, which may push costs higher.

As to what a more reasonable estimate might be, it is too soon to say because the numbers are still rising. Interestingly, the CSO data showed the number of claimants rose to approximately 30,000 and then started to come down again in recent weeks. There might be some initial signs that-----