Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 October 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Chapter 13 - Guardian Ad Litem Follow-up Report

9:30 am

Mr. Kevin McCarthy:

The simple answer is that we are operating at full capacity on an ongoing basis and the challenge is to continue to add capacity in order to meet the new demand that is arising on a day-by-day basis. I referenced the figures on the number of arrivals on international protection. We have seen over 11,000 so far this year, and we have of the order of 16,000 in our international protection accommodation at this point in time. In addition, we have 43,000 or thereabouts on the Ukraine side in accommodation provided by the State. Overall, we are currently accommodating well over 50,000 people on both fronts. It continues to be a significant challenge, particularly given that we are currently looking at a seven-day rolling average of close to 200 Ukrainian arrivals - 194 or something of that order - and a daily arrivals average of something of the order of 50 to 60 on the international protection side. It is a daily challenge to add capacity.