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

Regarding Gary Gannon's question, I speak frequently with the Garda Commissioner and senior gardaí about the threat posed by the far right. The Garda has a lot of information in respect of that. It is aware of any threats to IPAS centres and is doing very good work in respect of it.

In terms of the modular units in Clonmel raised by Deputy Murphy, I hear what he said and there will be engagement with the Garda on that. I am conscious I am here talking about IPAS whereas Ukrainians are a separate issue, although within my responsibilities as well. Once the Ukrainian families leave, we hope the accommodation units can go back into whatever traditional use they had. The State and I do not want to be in the business of leasing property. It is difficult to predict what is going happen in Ukraine but any person coming from Ukraine now only has 90-day accommodation, so he or she will not have permanent accommodation. In fact, we are one of the few European Union countries where all that is required under the terms of temporary accommodation is that we provide access to accommodation, not accommodation itself. For IPAS, we have to provide accommodation for temporary protection and access to it.

A very interesting question is the question put forward by Deputy Guirke as to what we can do to get the 33,000 figure down. We need to speed up the processing of applications. If we can speed them up and have them heard within three to four months at first instance, that will have a significant impact because people will get an immediate decision before they are entitled to work. If they are not entitled to international protection, they will not see the benefit of coming here.