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

I can answer this very clearly. I have no plans to use the Oldcastle House Hotel as an IPAS centre. There is no proposal to do so, and I am not planning to use it in the future. Since I came into office, very few IPAS centres have been opened. What I want to try to do is ensure that we use the spaces we have available throughout the system. We have 33,000 people accommodated at present. I want to be able to use what we have efficiently. I want to avoid a situation where, as happened when there was a crisis in 2023 and 2024, the Department is obliged to search the country looking for accommodation suites. I am not doing that. It is much more efficient to ensure we get people in, process their applications quickly and move them out once they get a determination that they are entitled to stay or are refused protection and have to leave. I am trying to cut down on the number of new IPAS centres. Certainly, I have no plans in respect of the Oldcastle House Hotel.