Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is absolutely right about the hosts and the significant personal sacrifices many households are making, particularly where a house is being shared, to ensure Ukrainians are welcome. It is important to say the origins of the 13,000 people who are being accommodated come through a variety of paths. Some come through the Red Cross pledge process and some come through the offer-a-home scheme that was opened more recently by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Some are ad hocarrangements that people have entered into, and some hosts are Ukrainians who were living here in advance of the war and are hosting family members or friends in their own home. All are welcome and all are a welcome support.

The scheme is linked to the temporary protection directive. As we know, the directive applies solely to those fleeing the war in Ukraine. The scheme is not designed in such a way that it could be extended to either international protection applicants or, indeed, people in Ireland under the Irish refugee protection programme. I would certainly say that, in the medium term, we can learn from this scheme, learn from its successes and potentially look at it in terms of other mechanisms, but because it is linked directly to the temporary protection directive and the beneficiaries of the directive are Ukrainians, that is as far as the scheme can apply at the moment.