Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for being here today. When Members of the Houses speak of the areas Mr. McCarthy deals with, they often begin by saying they know the Department is dealing with a huge range of issues. We should acknowledge this in the first instance. Leaving aside the issues concerning birth, information and tracing, the redress scheme, IPAS, Ukraine and the core funding model for childcare, I would say that the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, alone would keep all the officials busy. There is a huge amount of work being done by the Department. I will come back to staffing in a moment.

There is a significant concentration on those people who find themselves without accommodation. Last weekend, the number was 47, I believe. However, we should not forget Ireland’s response. We have had 55,000 Ukrainian refugees, involving 11,500 school places. Some 43,000 people have been accommodated by the State and 43,000 medical cards have been issued. Ten thousand have found employment. While 47 is a very significant number, we have to put it in the context of Ireland’s huge response. Communities across Ireland have been very willing to respond.

Some local authorities are taking a very considerable burden and that may be because of traditional accommodations and so on. I want to touch on a few areas within that. For the two years that are referenced here, the staffing between the Department and agencies was approximately 5,000. Will staffing be at a similar level between agencies and the Department for 2022?