Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the last point, Louth County Council are leading the way. I do not know what is happening in Cork but Louth County Council identified over 100 abandoned homes and renovated them at an average cost of €100,000 per home. All of those homes are occupied and families are living in them. I agree with Deputy Cian O'Callaghan that we need a tax on empty homes. It is something for which I have been arguing for in Fine Gael for a number of years. I hope more people are beginning to listen to the sense those arguments make.

I strongly support the view of Deputy Carroll MacNeill regarding the rent a room scheme. It is an obvious way. These are people whose children have left home. The rent a room scheme might be used to help many of these families. It will not be easy to match up individuals with empty properties and there are other issues such as governance and appropriate placements but it would make a lot of sense and I very much commend that.

This is the 71st day of the war. Over 7.7 million people have been dispossessed and 5.7 million people have left Ukraine. This is the same as every man, woman and child in Ireland leaving Ireland to go to another country. This is what is happening in Ukraine.

I very much welcome and support the work of the Government and the work of the Ministers concerned. Indeed, I believe that my own council, Louth County Council, is doing an excellent job. I also commend the community groups. I wish to mention two Ukrainians who are showing very important leadership locally, Olga Duka and Natasha Ibanez. They are helping their community and us to ensure that the Ukrainians are welcomed into our community. Their support is very strong and they are going from strength to strength. As others have done, I wish to voice my support for providing support to families who have taken in refugees. It is a fact that energy costs are going up. People are realising that now. Unfortunately, the energy crisis and the war is leading to an even more difficult situation. There is an issue that has been mentioned in the media, but I have not heard a Minister talking about it today. Let us get the facts out. What is happening on the proposed payment of €400 per month for those who take in refugees that was announced in the media? Are we flying the flag or paying the money? I think it is time to pay the money and to support those families, who will have significant and increasing energy costs as a result of this humanitarian crisis.

The crisis has brought a great response from Louth County Council. The crisis management team, in co-operation with community and other groups, has made a significant difference both in Dundalk, where they have repurposed the Dundalk sports centre, and in Drogheda, where they are repurposing and using the Dominican and Franciscan facilities for longer-term accommodation. I know the work is going on. They are looking at Drumcar and the Marist college in Dundalk to provide further medium- to long-term accommodation. At the end of the day, this has all happened before. It is nothing new for Ukrainians to be dispossessed from their homes. Indeed, a Soviet commentator, Vasily Grossman, wrote about it in two of his novels, Stalingradand Life and Fate. He was present in Ukraine 80 years ago, when the Nazis were murdering, plundering and killing millions of citizens there. The largest number of Jews that were exterminated during the Second World War were Ukrainians. Grossman wrote his book a long time ago. He wrote about Nazi Germany, but if we put in the word "Russia" into his text, it sounds very true today: What has become of Russia? What has happened? They burn villages, organise executions of prisoners of war and massacre peaceful civilians. His question is relevant today: Are there no longer any good, noble or honest Russians? How can that be? We know their science, literature, music, philosophy and culture. Russia and its people will survive, and goodness will triumph over evil. It is not acceptable, when we talk about the war, to talk about ordinary Russians. It is really Putin and the political system. We are not talking about the ordinary people of Russia. I hope that there will be changes there. I have about ten seconds left. I wish to state that the Minister is doing an excellent job. We must put our money where the people are. We must look after the people who are in our homes, and ensure that the families who are accommodating them receive the payment.

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