Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not feel intimidated now either. I apologise because I did not think I would make it to the meeting. I am watching Dáil proceedings because I am due to speak there shortly. More than anything else I want to acknowledge the work the Department has done in response to the Ukrainian crisis. It is unprecedented. We could not have planned for this situation last year before it happened. The response from the Department and from the workers in the Department has been very good. This needs to be acknowledged and I want the Minister to pass it on to the Department and anybody else delivering the response. I am happy to see that Ireland is playing its part in the humanitarian response. It is important for us as a nation to be able to roll out the welcome mat for people coming into the country, especially those with trauma and in crisis and fleeing a war situation.

Not everything is perfect and I am glad the situation in Killarney was resolved. If it has not been I would like the Minister to let me know. One of the biggest challenges we have is people coming here who have lost their homes and sometimes family members. They come over to a new situation and they find themselves in a community. After a period of time they become embedded in the community and put down roots. I was listening to the radio earlier and I heard a lady who went to college in her community but all of a sudden there was a threat of her being moved to a different community at the other end of the country. I would like to see measures in place whereby this approach cannot be taken.

There is an overspend for Tusla of €16.2 million, much of which relates to the provision of residential care. The CEO of Tusla, Mr. Bernard Gloster, appeared before the joint committee yesterday and there was discussion on what seems to be an increase in the number of children accessing bespoke temporary accommodation, such as bed and breakfast establishments, hotels, holiday chalets and so on. Does that account for any part of the increase in Tusla's expenditure?

Will the Minister elaborate on the €35.2 million in savings across certain areas, which may alleviate some of the cost overruns elsewhere? From where did those savings come? I am concerned that when savings are made, certain services that were in place might not be delivered as well as they were in the previous year.