Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree that this is not sustainable. There is no one in this House, and I doubt there is anyone in Waterways Ireland, who would not like to see the barriers removed. It just needs to be done in a way that is safe. I am conscious that Waterways Ireland is having to monitor that. A whole variety of safety issues need to be considered. We are seeing some examples around the country of where we are moving from the emergency response. As a result of policy changes in respect of Ukraine, and as a result of the numbers of people coming from Ukraine significantly reducing, we have, for example, seen 49 contracts with hotels ended. We have seen contracts with more than 100 bed and breakfasts ended. If I take County Kerry as an example, we have seen hotels in Killarney and in Dingle that were being used, are now not being used for providing that accommodation. In County Galway, six contracts ended, and in Dublin, eight contracts ended. These are important changes as we move away from the model of taking whatever we can obtain. That is not a good value-for-money model. It is not a good model for social cohesion. I fully agree we need to see a public model. I promise the Deputy that there is absolutely no question in the wide earthly world of any one Minister or Department being left on their own on this. I am personally chairing the Cabinet committee on migration. I am personally invested in this as Head of Government. It requires a whole-of-government approach. That is why we will have a further Cabinet committee meeting on migration next week to progress these matters.

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