Ms Oonagh Buckley:

It is the big unknown, Chair. By their very nature these people are undocumented so it is very hard to given an estimate. The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, MRCI, is an NGO that led the charge in putting in place a structure for the undocumented. The MRCI has estimated that the number is about 17,000. Similarly, we have looked at studies done in other European countries so one can do a crude estimate of those studies. Let us say there are 450,000 undocumented people living in the UK, which has a population 13 times our size so one could divide 450,000 by 13. However, all of these figures are estimates and the exact number is a big unknown for us.

In terms of the discussion that we are having with other Departments, we have drawn up cost-based estimates that are based on 10,000, 20,000 and 30,000 people because we genuinely do not know in that space where the ultimate number will land. We are trying to design a system that can accommodate tens of thousand of people but, unfortunately, the number is a big unknown for us.

The one thing that we consistently say to people is that the undocumented are already in this country. It is not that 10,000 will come into the country. These people are already here, they are living in houses and their children are already going to school. So this is not a huge additional burden that the State will have to take on. That is not the case because these people are already here.