Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a major problem that we have had to deal with in a short time. In fairness to the Department and the officials, I must say I have been disappointed by the local authorities. I had my own experience of dealing with them in respect of how slow they were to respond. They could have done a great deal more. I accept what Deputy Catherine Murphy is saying about those instances where the local authorities identified properties and then the Department did not come on board.

On the issue of purchasing property, in the long term the Government will have to decide on this issue. The question then will be around who will manage the property. Will it be, for example, the local authorities or a separate State agency? A Department would not be able to manage it. Simple things like maintenance and upkeep will require the employment of staff and ongoing issues that arise will have to be addressed. There does, however, need to be a Government policy on this matter because even if this crisis is resolved in the next three months, we can be assured we will have another crisis within the next three to four years where we will have people coming in from abroad. This is just one of the challenges we now have in the context of the whole way the world is working.

To return to the issue of Ukraine, I do not know what anyone else thinks, but it will be interesting to see how it evolves. All the other countries are pouring arms into Ukraine. The problem is the arms manufacturers are making great money out of this. Is any serious effort being made to bring this conflict to an end? I am a bit concerned about that aspect.