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

I am cognisant of the potential impact on the tourism industry arising from the number of contracts my Department has entered into to meet our responsibility to provide accommodation to beneficiaries of the temporary protection directive and international protection. Regular meetings take place between my officials and the relevant Department and Fáilte Ireland to share learnings and discuss ideas as we continue to respond to the challenge of procuring enough accommodation to meet demand. My Department is grateful for the support of those in this sector in responding to date to this unprecedented challenge. The tourism sector has been magnificent in the support it has offered. Communities across the country have welcomed those from Ukraine in their time of need.

My Department is very aware of the concerns shared by some communities regarding the absence of tourists in some areas, now and into the future, and the consequent impact on local spending. To respond to these and other issues, we continue to work alongside Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media as part of the whole-of-government response to the crisis in order to ensure that key stakeholders have a place in terms of the senior officials group and are able to engage with us on accommodation solutions.

As the Deputy knows, the Government is committed to delivering accommodation solutions beyond serviced accommodation, including delivering the refurbished buildings strand, the forthcoming new vacant homes call and modular accommodation. We must recognise - and the Deputy referenced it - that all of this is happening in the context of a war in Europe. This is the biggest humanitarian challenge Europe has faced since the Second World War and the biggest humanitarian challenge our country has ever faced. Even though it might not get top billing on the news every night, 6,500 civilians, tens of thousands of soldiers and 400 children have been killed in Ukraine. That is why we are experiencing these difficulties. We should always bear that in mind in our discussion of these issues.

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