Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Mr. McCarthy. Representatives from Tusla were before the committee recently. I wish to say two things about this matter. The first concerns unaccompanied minors arriving in Ireland. They arrive and become Tusla's responsibility to deal with, home and process. These minors are, literally, landed at its front door. Supervision must be provided for these children in bed and breakfast accommodation, which obviously creates great difficulty. Has the Department, which has responsibility for this area, or any Minister or Minister of State made suggestions in this regard? Many of these minors are arriving from Ukraine. I understand that there is a conflict in that country. We need to help people who are genuinely coming from areas impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. However, these children are boarding planes in Ukraine unaccompanied and coming here. Has the Department raised this issue with the Ukrainian embassy? I ask because we have a very active Ukrainian embassy here, and this is good. There are fairly good relations with the Ukrainian diplomats, as I understand it, across the political spectrum. Has this matter been raised by officials with the Ukrainian embassy? I refer to determining why this is happening. If we were to send children or juveniles out to Dublin Airport and they tried to board planes, they would not be allowed on unaccompanied.