Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this matter. We all see on a daily basis the horrific images of what is happening in Ukraine. War in Europe is not something any of us had comprehended but it is a situation that Ireland must respond to. Ukrainian citizens are arriving here severely traumatised as they face the loss of family and friends, as they worry about those they have left behind, and as they arrive in a strange country having lost their jobs, their income and all their belongings. Their entire world has been turned upside down in the last few weeks and it is our duty to help them.

I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to today’s debate and, in particular, to outline to the House how my Department is responding to the situation. Along with colleagues from other Departments, officials from my Department are responding in a sensitive and caring way and we are doing all we can to ensure that those who need our help will receive it as quickly as possible. The House will be aware that a welcome facility is operating at Dublin Airport where officials from my Department and the Department of Justice are available to meet arrivals from Ukraine. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I opened that facility a number of weeks ago at the onset of the crisis and it is working very well.

The steps being taken by my Department fall into three categories, namely, issuing personal public service, PPS, numbers, providing immediate income support, and providing access to child benefit. All income support claims are being fast-tracked for processing and all resources are being made available to ensure PPS numbers and payments are issued as quickly as possible. Immediate income support is being provided in the form of supplementary allowance, which is payable at rates up to €206 per week, with increases for adult and child dependants.

To give a sense of the scale of the issue, I will share some basic numbers with the House.

To date, personal public service, PPS, numbers have been issued to more than 14,000 Ukrainian citizens, comprising just under 10,000 women and girls and 4,000 men and boys. Supplementary welfare allowance already has been paid in respect of more than 9,000 people, while child benefit is being paid for almost 4,000 children.

As well as the facility at Dublin Airport, we have established a number of additional dedicated welcome centres at Cork Street in Dublin and in Cork and Limerick cities. My Department is working closely on this with the Departments of Justice and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, as well as the international protection accommodation services in these locations. We also are working closely with the Department of Justice to ensure people coming here on each ferry at Rosslare Port are met on their arrival. Interpretation services are being provided, where required, to assist Ukrainian citizens to access my Department's services and application forms. Information on supports is available in both Ukrainian and Russian. A dedicated web page has been published on the Department's website to ensure those arriving from Ukraine are aware of the supports and services available to them. This page has been translated into both Ukrainian and Russian.

Once people have had an opportunity to settle in, we will arrange to provide the most appropriate social welfare payment, which, depending on individuals' circumstances, could include the one-parent family payment, disability allowance or jobseeker's payment. As Deputies know, many people arriving from Ukraine are anxious to support themselves and already are making efforts to seek employment. Fortunately, many of them have been successful in obtaining jobs and I know many employers are seeking to offer them work. My Department is putting in place plans to roll out job search and employment supports in order that those seeking employment can receive the assistance they require. A number of Deputies have been in touch about businesses that have employment opportunities for Ukrainians. Employers can email employer@welfare.ieif they wish to register their interest in offering work opportunities to Ukrainian citizens arriving in Ireland. My officials will work closely with employers, as well as with education and training boards, in order that any training and language supports that are needed can be provided.

It is important, however, that we give people the necessary time and space to get settled after they arrive here. They have been through an extremely traumatic experience and their immediate concern is naturally for their children and the loved ones they have left behind. For those who want and are ready to look for a job, my Department is here to help and we will assist in matching them with employers.

I thank the staff in the Department of Social Protection, who, over the past two years, responded in an unprecedented way to ensure income support was provided to people during a global pandemic and who are now doing the same again in respect of people arriving from Ukraine. The work the staff are doing at Dublin Airport and at the reception facilities and local offices around the country is public service at its best. I really want to acknowledge those efforts in the House today. We all hope this awful war will end but, in the meantime, we will continue to do everything we can to help.

As part of my remit in the Department of Rural and Community Development, I am working with the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to engage with communities. As the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, said, the community call that was activated during the pandemic certainly will be utilised again to help people. As a Government, we need the help of everybody. This is a mammoth task and we will call on all those who are willing to put their shoulder to the wheel. We will be doing so through the community call and all the different organisations that really stepped up to the mark during the pandemic. We will call on them again and I know we can rely on them. We will work with them in every way we can to assist in this area.

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