Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have instructed officials in my Department to ensure they get the best value for money. The market has changed. As I said to Deputy Kelly, last year, the State was chasing after sites. Now, site owners are chasing after the State. The market has changed but that can change very quickly. A significant number of people, about 2,500, are not being provided with accommodation. It is a challenge all over Europe to provide accommodation for international protection applicants. We need to try to get control of it by ensuring we have State-owned accommodation and trying to get the numbers down. I do not wish to make a political point but I listened carefully to the Deputy's suggestion that we stop temporary protection. If we did that, all the Ukrainians would claim international protection. There would be 87,000 people in Ireland claiming international protection.