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

I recognise that moving these 112 Ukrainians will have an impact on families and individuals. The reason for the move is the pressure on the State's measures to meet the accommodation needs of Ukrainian displaced persons and international protection applicants. The number of Ukrainians arriving in the country has doubled in the past month as a consequence of renewed attacks on civilian targets. International protection applicant numbers remain high. We continue to have a real difficulty in sourcing accommodation for international protection applicants. Already, that lack of accommodation led to a situation where we had to turn international protection applicants away for a number of days. It is to try and avoid situations like that recurring that we have to take up all available accommodation for international protection where we can locate it. That is the case in Killarney. Asking people to move will have an impact on them, I absolutely accept that, but, fundamentally, my Department has to be in the position to provide accommodation and meals for all applicants, Ukrainians and international protection applicants alike. That is what we are seeking to do.

See this speech in context