James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. It is a very uncertain time in the world, particularly in the region to which I referred. Ireland has worked with that region over a great many years. I recognise that Deputy Stanton, who is sitting behind me, worked on that portfolio in the previous Government. It is important for us to continue to support people in that region. I was recently in the Sinai region of Egypt, which is not terribly far away. It is very easy for us to forget just how lucky we are to live in a country as peaceful, as stable and as economically successful as Ireland. There are regions of the world where that is far from being the case.

Is an update available on the status of the delivery of the commitments under the White Paper on ending direct provision?

This is a very timely and important debate given the significant inbound level of migration and direct provision in Ireland at the moment.

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