Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Nobody doubts the scale of the challenge facing the State and communities all over the country in terms of providing shelter, welcome and safety to so many people who have travelled here over the past year. What I find unacceptable is the repetition of mistakes, time and again, that started almost last October in East Wall and have continued right up to Magowna this weekend.

I want to ask about the communications strategy. The Minister mentioned that a tender has been initiated in the past two weeks. I would like more detail. I am conscious that the Minister of State with responsibility in this area stated yesterday in the Irish Examiner:

In January, upon taking office, I had initiated proposals based on recruitment of a small team and utilising existing community networks under my remit. However officials of the Department of Taoiseach wanted time to explore alternative models of engagement and I understand that work is ongoing.

What is incorporated in these tenders, when did the Minister of State find out about it and why are we only hearing about it now?

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