Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The correspondent is making it very clear in their letter that their original correspondence did not relate to legislation or public policy in respect of housing of applicants for international protection. This is not really about the individuals that are housed in that location at all. I am familiar with it because it is in my constituency. I will go back to the day the Secretary General appeared before this committee, when I pursued this in a very general way with him. This is not a transparent system. There is no open process for people who are offering to provide accommodation and a lack of checks and balances and any vetting of those offering accommodation. For example, I asked whether it was merely a tax-clearance certificate that was required or was anything else sought. I got a very inconclusive response from the Secretary General. This letter says very clearly that they are raising concerns of unlawful misuse of Exchequer funds. It is not even exclusive to this one facility. It is about what controls that particular Department has and what checks and balances are in operation. It may be worthwhile if we were to write to the Department and ask it to outline to us what due diligence is done on those offering this accommodation. That is the point that this correspondent is trying to get to.