Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I fully agree. Women and children in the main are arriving in Ireland, fleeing a horrific and illegal war in Ukraine, and it is essential that they receive all the health and social care supports that they need. A huge amount of work is ongoing between my Department, the HSE, other Departments and non-government agencies to ensure access to the services they require. This includes access to acute care, chronic care, services for children's health, mental health, disabilities, maternity care, older people and many more. Additional health supports are provided where required, including mental health and psychological supports, including for PTSD, and services for people with long-term illnesses.

Refugees from Ukraine are granted temporary protection status. This entitles them to a PPS number which allows access to health care services, in line with other refugee groups and Irish citizens. In the short term, refugees are provided with rapid access to basic priority primary care in emergency accommodation. The aim of this service is to identify the need for ongoing clinical care of priority medical conditions, to triage and to provide an assessment of healthcare needs of refugees. In the medium and long term, refugees are entitled to apply for a medical card for each adult and child dependant. At the moment, temporary medical card numbers are being provided immediately. The medical card application form has been translated into Ukrainian and Russian and there are supports for people to apply for the more permanent medical cards too.

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