Results 601-620 of 11,583 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I might be able to answer it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Location is taken into consideration. When the contracts were entered into during the surge, there was very little option for the State to say-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Absolutely. We must be careful in how we refer to IPAS centres. I do not want a situation where there is a large concentration of IPAS centres in certain areas. They need to be distributed-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: We have identified barracks around the country that we use. We have purchased the Citywest Hotel and we want to buy other accommodation that will become State accommodation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: First, I agree with the Senator that it was worthwhile to move the function from the Department of children to the Department of justice. It makes sense to have the accommodation function in the Department that processes the applications. I also am concerned about issues to do with trafficking. I have spoken to An Garda Síochána about it and the force has conducted serious...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: We have a lot of non-governmental organisations at work within IPAS centres and we have a dedicated human trafficking section in IPAS to appraise, evaluate and report on these issues, if necessary. All these factors are taken into account. There is a recognition that these are issues that can arise. We have the mechanisms in place to ensure they are identified and reported if we believe...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Deputy for his questions. He raised two issues. The first was the difficult situation that arises when people have been granted status to remain in Ireland, but remain living in international protection accommodation centres. That has to be dealt with sensitively, but it is not feasible for us to create a situation where people are allowed to stay there. The Department is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I will answer the Senator's questions in reverse. The rate card has not been published. It is not available for the public to see. The Senator is right about the €2.2 billion-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is confidential in that we do not want people with whom we are negotiating to see that we have a rate card. We have an internal basis of assessing what we should offer per person per night to individuals. We believe putting that information into the public domain would be commercially naive. The Senator is correct about the €2.2 billion. That is what we spent on international...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is 87.66%. It suggests, and I think it is a fairly strong basis to suggest it, that the overwhelming majority of people who are claiming international protection in Ireland are arriving over the Border. They are coming from the United Kingdom, arriving into Northern Ireland and coming down and claiming international protection in Ireland. The reason we say that is because if somebody...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: It certainly would undermine the veracity of their claims.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I agree with the Deputy. This is a worthwhile debate. What I have sought to do is provide as much information to Oireachtas Members as possible, and that will inform the debate. There are also IPAS centres in the area where I live. I do not have any issue with them. The vast majority of people accommodated in IPAS centres are decent, hardworking individuals. In terms of profiteering,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is difficult to quantify. I cannot quantify it for the Deputy. As I said, this year we have had 1,461 repatriations, both deportations and voluntary returns. We have already served 3,029 deportation orders this year. Obviously not all of those people have been removed yet but we believe that a very significant number of them will have left the country. They may go back into the UK or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: They have to leave the IPAS accommodation and if they have status, they can apply for HAP and for the other welfare benefits available to those on the ordinary housing list. They can get on the housing list and they can apply for HAP but what they cannot do is continue to occupy IPAS accommodation-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I know, but in fairness, as I said, 3,000 have been moved on already this year so there is success there. The officials are doing a very good job in getting people through the system and out but it will not work if we find ourselves in a situation where the Department of justice is in the business of providing long-term accommodation to people who have status. In that case, we are just a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Deputy and agree that this is worthwhile discussion in terms of dispelling myths. The Deputy is right about IPAT. We have done extremely well in processing applications. We have processed a significant number of applications this year. My officials will give me the exact number presently but in terms of IPAT, the Deputy is right. At present, in 2025, 4,113 appeals have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: International Protection Accommodation Service: Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (23 Sep 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Deputy for his kind words about answering questions but there is no way around it. We have an excellent civic engagement team. I know from the Deputy's experience in Dundrum, on which I have engaged with him quite significantly, that the team within the Department gets involved with people in the local community. I understand that there are six civil servants in the civic...