Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Cairns for raising an important issue and one I think is on the minds of people right across this country this week. We had an opportunity in the House yesterday to reflect on the horrific scenes in Dublin and the Deputy is rightly raising the issue in County Clare now.

First, I wish to be clear that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is leading an incredible effort to address the largest humanitarian crisis any of us have probably lived through. We are all working tirelessly to support him. There are very concrete examples of this beyond words. Taking my Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, this means providing student accommodation during the summer months to the national months. If we take the Department of Justice, it means identifying and providing the Thornton Hall site. Turning to the Department of Defence, it means providing several sites, including Kilbride Camp in my constituency or Columb Barracks in Mullingar. It means taking account of the work of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, in respect of the Office of Public Works, OPW, and the roll-out of rapid-build housing, with the first units due to come on stream-----

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