Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Moving on to the accommodation of Ukrainians, as the Deputy says, we are accommodating 28,000 Ukrainians right now. We are also accommodating 12,000 people in the international protection process. We are accommodating 41,000 people in total right now. This time last year, we were accommodating 7,000 people. It is a substantial increase in a year and that has put real pressure on the system. That means that the delivery of choice that the Deputy spoke about in terms of Ukrainians is simply not possible right now.

It is not a situation in which I or my Department are pleased to be but our objective in the context, which we must recall in terms of Ukraine is still a wartime context, is to provide safety and security. We have been clear - the Taoiseach has been clear with the Ukrainian President - that we are offering Ukrainians coming here safety and security but we cannot offer choice, regrettable as that might be.

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