Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Ms McPhillips and all the other witnesses. A bit like the previous questioner, the range of issues I could raise with them reflects the range of responsibilities they have. Also, given all the statements that have been made by everybody else, and I would agree with them, this is an incredibly sensitive time. Equally, however, our role is to ensure that there is good value for the public money that is raised. The scale of the spending we are talking about here, particularly in relation to international protection, is of such an order - for example, the entire tax package available in the budget was €1.5 billion - that when we are talking about an accommodation system that is costing in that order, it just shows the scale of spending. As well as the justice committee, there is a big job for this committee to do in monitoring what is happening within the Department.

To help me get to the bottom of some figures, for 2024 I have seen a figure of 33,000 in international protection and a figure of €1.1 billion and a separate figure of €3 billion for the cost of accommodation. Could the witnesses help us get to the facts of some of those figures? How many were in international protection for that period and what were the accommodation costs?