Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is accepted by me, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the whole of the Government that these 280 places are not the end destination. It is, though, where we realistically believe that pulling out all the stops and going at this with gusto and prioritisation is truthfully where we can get to in the lifetime of this strategy. I have even a greater degree of confidence about this after having engaged with the team in the Department of Justice in this regard. We have gone from a scenario where we had counties in Ireland where we knew we needed refuges but regarding which we had no clue what organisation was going to be leading on the delivery, to a scenario now where we have an agency or local organisation beside each agency. We have most of the sites secured, to give this aspect as an example. I will provide the Deputy with more detail of this in a note.

I think this strategy, and I give credit to my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in this regard, is different to its predecessors in respect of its implementation structures. It has been recognised by the sector, if I may call it that, all the NGOs and stakeholders, as probably one of the most ambitious strategies ever. Delivery and implementation are key, however; I get this. The structures to deliver in this regard are pretty robust, though. We have a high-level oversight group co-chaired by the Secretaries General of the Departments of the Taoiseach and Justice. We have a senior officials group, SOG, pulling together all the Departments and a Cabinet committee monitoring it. We also have individual actions. I take the point, however, that delivery and implementation are key in this context.

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