Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the ambassador for his presentation. First, the idea of a model "Lex Ukraine" is one we might have a look at - codifying what refugees are entitled to in a legal framework - because part of the issue we have now is how, in a co-ordinated way, to provide information to people arriving here. I am conscious that in his presentation, the ambassador tells us that 10,000 refugees a day are crossing into Slovakia. We have had 10,000 in total so far and the scale is of an entirely different order.

I have two questions. Slovakia provides, within this Lex Ukraine, the provision for people to work in Slovakia. The information we seem to be getting is that many people, particularly moving as far as the neighbouring countries of Ukraine, in their mind at least have the notion that they will return home over the next few weeks or, at most, months. Is Slovakia making provision for a long-term hosting of significant numbers? Has the ambassador any notion how long refugees will stay in Slovakia? There have been 270,000 refugees to date. If the bombardment of Kyiv increases, there will be probably a great deal more. How many will be long-stay residents of Slovakia?

In that context, is Slovakia working at a trans-European level to share the number of refugees across European countries on any structured basis? I am conscious that the focus has to be on the wishes of the refugees themselves. They cannot simply be transported to a country they know nothing about if they are unwilling to move but at the same time there is limited capacity, if we are talking about 10 million displaced people right now, for neighbouring countries to cope on their own.

What is the ambassador's expectation in terms of duration of stay? Is it possible to have one? Second, what level of co-ordination on a trans-European level is there for a sharing of accommodation across all member states and, indeed, beyond the member states of the European Union?