Dáil debates
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Social Welfare and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages
4:15 pm
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
As I said to the Deputy earlier, this is to bring us in line with other European countries. Reducing the payment to €38.80 per week for new Ukrainians coming into this country from now on it brings us better in line. We need to be careful here because there is a distinction between the IPAS legislation and what we are talking about today. This is not about international protection, it is specifically about the beneficiaries of the temporary protection directive, who are the Ukrainians. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will bring proposals to Cabinet on revisions to the White Paper.
People coming from Ukraine can work here. They have access to our health and education systems. When they are not in a designated centre, they can continue to access social protection payments. Some 17,000 people from Ukraine are actually working in this country. The Deputy bandies about the word "inhumanity". I challenge him to ask any Ukrainian who has come to this country if they have been treated well by the Irish people.
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