Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Department probably has a role in flagging up the direction things are going. There are 170,000 people, the accommodation situation is tightening and, added to that, per head of population, we are taking more than three times what France is taking. None of this is an argument to not help, by the way. We have to do everything we can. Is Mr. McCarthy, as Secretary General of the Department, flagging this up with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Taoiseach, and his Minister, Deputy O'Gorman? Has that communication happened? In other words, is this being taken up at European level? We are a relatively small state. We can see the challenges that Mr. McCarthy is facing. We do not want people finishing up homeless in the streets - Irish people, people seeking international protections or Ukrainians. That is the last thing we want. We want to try to end homelessness for everybody. Is this being flagged up?