Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I again express solidarity with the people of Ukraine for the turmoil the country has been put into and the vicious war that has been orchestrated from the Russian Federation which has cost the lives of so many and has scattered people all over the world. Some have come to Ireland. In my local community in County Leitrim, a Ukrainian neighbour of mine, Ivan Tarkovych, worked to get his family here. I have worked with him and many others in our community. Tomorrow he is flying to Dubrovnik, I understand, to bring back a whole lot of people from his community in a minibus.

There have been major efforts made locally by huge numbers of people in the community. A Facebook page has been set up and beds, linen and everything else people could possibly need has been donated. People have come forward to offer their homes, holiday homes and all kinds of other accommodation. That is the kind of community effort we see when people in Ireland step up to the mark. What is happening is tremendous. Like other Deputies, I want to commend the work the Government has done. In fairness, a huge effort has been made to try to make sure we do everything we possibly can to assist these people.

Last Monday week, I was in Donegal where 156 people from Ukraine have been housed in an emergency accommodation centre. I spoke to a lot of them. Many of the issues they raised concerned qualifications and how they would be matched. There were doctors, nurses, teachers and people with various other qualifications we require in this country. They are unsure as to how they will fit into our healthcare system and other services. They want to get assistance with that. I understand that one of the ways in which they can be assisted is through adult education officers in ETBs. There is a clear difficulty in trying to ensure the numbers coming have the adequate information they need.

Over the past number of days, local authorities and county councils have met in order to put together a strategy around that. They are also in the dark. I spoke to people from Leitrim County Council yesterday who did not know how many refugees had come to Leitrim or how many would come. They did not know whether an emergency accommodation centre would be set up. It is the same in every county. There is a little breakdown in communications that need to be resolved, and that needs to happen as urgently as possible.

Many Ukrainian people who come here have huge trauma, but there is also a great sense of gratitude that they are being helped and looked after. There is a great sense of gratitude that they are able to get payments. They want to work, and are anxious to get work as quickly as possible. Many have already started work. They want to contribute, and pay a little bit of rent to people offering accommodation for free to them. That is all positive, and we need to encourage and work with that.

After all of this, we need to reflect on something in a European context. I have dealt with refugees for the past two decades. Many came to an old direct provision centre in Ballinamore in Leitrim for many years, and another centre opened in the past two years. Whether they are from Syria, North Africa or wherever else, when children have had turmoil and hardship in their lives their tears are the same. It does not matter what distance they have travelled. There is an EU-Ukrainian association agreement, which can be set out as the reason we treat these asylum seekers or refugees differently. However, for me and the vast majority of Irish people who want to welcome them, it is a problem that we need to deal with.

It is not appropriate that we deal with one set of refugees differently, regardless of what agreements are in place or an international lobby tells us is the case. The reality is that the people who need help should get it, and they should get equal help regardless of where they have come from or what circumstances they have travelled in. They have come from war or have experienced human rights abuses where they lived, and have come here to seek shelter. We should try to do that in a more humane way than we have done in the past, in the very same way that we are providing assistance for Ukrainian people who are coming here now.

To return to the point at hand, I want to pay tribute to the work of the Red Cross. I have spoken to Liam O'Dwyer in the Red Cross on a number of occasions over the past few weeks. It is overwhelmed by what has happened and the number of people who are coming here.

Housing will be the greatest difficulty. We need to face that fact. We talk in here every day about the housing crisis facing so many Irish people who cannot find accommodation. Thousands are coming here. We have to be very careful that tensions do not arise, something that can happen very easily. The first day we put up the page "Leitrim Helps Ukraine" a couple of people talked about our own. In fairness, such comments were drowned out by the hundreds of people who said that we have a responsibility to help. The Government has a job of work to do to get this right.

In fairness, so far there has been a reasonably decent job done, but there are difficulties with communications and ensuring people know exactly what rights they will have and how they can integrate well in assisting those they want to assist. It is to be hoped that if we get a huge influx like we are expecting over the coming weeks, the Government will put the shoulder to the wheel and ensure we provide the level of assistance that people are so determined to provide. The ordinary decent people of Ireland are up for this, and we need to show that the Government is up for it as well.

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