Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is saying that because he is already building up the case for an inquiry against people who are working flat out within our system to do everything they possibly can to accommodate people with respect and with dignity. We are doing that.

In terms of ending direct provision, the Government has a policy in that respect. There are hundreds of families in direct provision who could leave it, but the housing situation does not facilitate them doing so. We are building. There were 31,000 commencements last year, up to 33,000 in the 12 months up to February this year, which is the highest since 2008. However, that will not be enough. The inflationary pressures on construction are very significant, which is being seen in all of the tenders that are coming in. There is a lot of strain out there because of the impact of the war and the huge inflationary cycle that has occurred because of energy and input costs. We cannot go on blindly making commentary as if we are somehow oblivious to those realities.

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