Mr. Nick Henderson:

I do not have anything to add about the vulnerability assessment. On the question about refugee agencies, some of the feedback we have received when we have raised the point is that it would be too slow or time-consuming to set up and we would not get dividends within a year or a year and a half. However, in our crisis paper in October, we recommended the appointment of a refugee response director to oversee logistics, make contingency plans, co-ordinate between Departments and provide clear communication to the public. As an example, one thing that is deeply frustrating at the moment is that people who arrive in Ireland may not be offered accommodation and may become homeless. Other Departments are not supporting people and are not responding to us. We wrote a letter to the Departments of Justice; Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; and Housing, Local Government and Heritage, stating that not accommodating people was a breach of the law but if it is going to happen, they could take mitigating measures to support people by giving them information, by supporting homeless services in the Dublin area and by setting out clearly and in a language people would understand what their rights and entitlements are. We wrote those letters in mid-January and again in mid-February and have not received a response. We would imagine that would be a very easy thing for somebody to do. As RTÉ reported ten days ago, no Department has come forward with accommodation options for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. That speaks for itself.