Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the Deputy. This is a worthwhile debate. What I have sought to do is provide as much information to Oireachtas Members as possible, and that will inform the debate. There are also IPAS centres in the area where I live. I do not have any issue with them. The vast majority of people accommodated in IPAS centres are decent, hardworking individuals.

In terms of profiteering, a huge number of the contracts we entered into were obviously with the private sector. Every private company that is involved in a contract with the State for the provision of services does it for the purpose of making a profit. What the Deputy probably means in terms of profiteering is that many firms were using what was a crisis to extract the maximum amount from the State, and that probably was the case. They probably were able to extract more than would have been the case had we not had a surge.

I acknowledge the position in which the former Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, found himself. It was extremely difficult to be the Minister responsible for accommodation at a time when there were tents out on the streets because 18,500 people had arrived into the country. He had to go around frantically looking for accommodation. He was legally obliged to do that. It was not an easy thing for him.

As stated, there have been 3,029 deportation orders signed this year. What happens when an order is signed? Somebody is required to leave the country. If he or she does not leave the country, he or she is committing a criminal offence. That person can be arrested by An Garda Síochána and detained for up to 42 days. That happens frequently. It has happened a lot in terms of the enforced deportations that have taken place.

There are many people who have deportation orders who have not been subject to either an enforced removal or an agreement to voluntarily return. However, I am informed that it is extremely difficult for people to stay in Ireland if they have a deportation order. They simply cannot work so it makes it difficult to subsist and to continue to operate here. Sometimes there is frustration because we cannot give specific details of what has happened to individuals but we believe that most people who have been served with deportation orders ultimately leave.