David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Every option is being pursued to try to identify and locate accommodation for people who come here looking for international protection. As I said, so far this year, of the people who have received status, 675 have got help to transit into permanent accommodation in the community. Officials from the Department meet regularly with colleagues from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and staff from the City and County Management Association to work collectively to ensure those with status or permission to remain are assisted to move on to longer-term accommodation as soon as possible.

A new accommodation centre opened in Borrisokane on 28 October. Eight families have now moved there and have settled in well. I thank the community in Borrisokane for their co-operation, assistance and support in establishing friends of the centre there and showing Borrisokane to be a very welcoming town. We also have accommodation centres in other parts of the country, 39 in all, and they are all working very well. Local friends of centres have been established, local people are assisting and, in fact, in some cases problems arise because the local people send in too many gifts and presents to the people living in the centres as they are so generous. I call on all other communities in the country to look at this and to see the benefits accommodation centres bring. There is nothing to fear, as the Deputy said, and nothing to be worried about. We have the records. People can visit centres, see them in operation and meet the people to see how well the centres are working.

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