Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, in relation to Deputy Howlin’s point, we have approximately 29,000 - I can check those figures for the Deputy - Ukrainians who are fleeing war. We did undertake to take in 500 from Moldova. I will check the specifics on that and I will come back to the committee and to the Deputy. I will take on board what he said about financial support. Initially, in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of the war, we tend to allocate the humanitarian assistance through the United Nations bodies, through international NGOs, the WHO, the UN, UNICEF etc.

I take the Deputy’s point about the 1 million people going to Moldova. I am very concerned about a country like Moldova and its capacity to absorb what it has to absorb. I will talk to my colleagues in government to see if we can do something more specific to Moldova in relation to financial supports and any other capacity supports that we can help with them with, such as logistical or rapid response teams that might be able to help in certain respects.

There is also the issue of Moldova’s application to join the EU. I am on the side of those who believe that we should accelerate the European perspectives of the neighbourhood. I see it from a fundamentally geopolitical perspective. If you look at what happened in 2004, when we took in ten new states, many of those had different and varying levels of economic and social development. Yet, it is unquestionable now, looking at it from this point in time, that was an overwhelming success. There are concerns more laterally with some countries that joined and about whether they were ready. However, the bottom line is that if those countries were not in the European Union now, they would be vulnerable and they would feel vulnerable to the kind of aggression that Ukraine is experiencing. The European Union cannot complain about Russian meddling in the neighbourhood, be it in the western Balkans or in the eastern neighbourhood, if the EU is not moving purposefully to facilitate the application pathways of countries such as Georgia and Moldova. I take the Deputy’s point that they are realistic about their prospects.

We have taken further steps to engage with those countries on the measures they have taken. We have tended to move on the hotels and on any vacant accommodation that is available. It is now increasingly clear is that many Ukrainian people prefer the multiple occupancy at the moment. They would prefer to stay with their network of people with whom they have come in. They are sometimes reluctant to go into an individual house, for example, if they have been in a congregated grouping for a period of time. They probably get strength from their networks.

The next phase will be to reconfigure a range of properties that have been identified by a team that the Department of Housing, Government and Local Heritage put together. These were former local authority executives who looked at a range of buildings. They have said that these can be more readily reconfigured in the short term to provide locations for families and for people who are fleeing. The pledged aspect of this needs to be accelerated. It has been a slow process. In terms of the Irish Red Cross, many of the properties pledged have not emerged. Yet, there is anecdotal evidence that it could be made speedier. There are all the vetting issues that go with that.

In terms of bilateral arrangements under the global strategy, there is room for us within that European neighbourhood to increase and expand our footprint as we continue to expand our diplomatic footprint across Europe and across the world.

Deputy Quinlivan raised the point of the need for supports for the committees. I would have thought that would have been a job for the Oireachtas Commission. I will check with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform as to what type of bilateral engagement has taken place between the commission and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and about the overall envelope that is allocated. My understanding is that there has not been too much agitation around the envelope, although “agitation” might be the wrong word. I do not get a sense that there have been huge demands. I will be careful what I say now, because I might be inviting demands. Normally the Oireachtas Commission gets a sizeable budget.