Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I assume the Minister appreciates it is quite difficult to know where to begin with this legislation because it is multifaceted. It is rushed but there is an emergency nature to it at the same time. I accept that is the case. We know mistakes will be made, even if we cannot identify them at this stage, because this legislation is being passed at breakneck speed. I am not referring to this specific Bill, but even in situations where there are issues with rushed legislation that can be identified at the time it is being debated, the Government is very often not disposed to accepting amendments. I have concerns. This time of the year, just before the recess, is always problematic when it comes to rushed legislation. If we were to go back and take a look, it is the time when most mistakes are made.

On housing, I am glad to see the €400 flat payment for host families. That support is welcome. It has been announced and I am glad to see it is backdated. Host families are showing an incredible level of generosity in taking refugees into their homes and should not be under financial strain. We all accept it is not just about the war environment but is a cost-of-living issue as well. I will highlight some concerns. The Bill is very explicit in laying out that the payment is not to establish a landlord-tenant relationship between host families and refugees. That is fine and it is right to do that, but we must be cautious about placing refugees in living situations where they have no rights. Where do they go if the arrangement does not continue? We all know there is a housing crisis at present. We have to ask what protections are in place on the other side for people who have been pledged accommodation. Are there clear avenues, for example, if things do not work out or if there are complaints? Are there procedures to remove people from poor living conditions, if they arise? Is the Minister satisfied that provisions are robust enough to ensure all the accommodation is of a certain standard?

While this legislation excludes access to this payment for hosts who have drawn up official rental agreements with refugees, I do not see an acknowledgement in the Bill regarding informal payment arrangements that are in place. Some host families have verbal agreements with refugees that include making a contribution to the family household. I am concerned we could be creating a situation where, between the Government subsidy and informal arrangements, some hosts could essentially be receiving a rental income. We have to be careful. There will always be a very small number of people who will take advantage of a situation. That is, in essence, what I am trying to draw attention to. If it exists at all, it will be a tiny number, but we should not exclude the possibility.

To date, approximately 1,500 families have been placed in pledged housing. The Government target was to reach 6,000 by the end of August. At the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Red Cross was flooded with 25,000 pledges of accommodation. Of course, it is natural that when people think about it, there will be a fall-off, but we need to understand, should something similar happen in future, which I hope it does not, and I am not necessarily talking about a war situation, how we handle this at the beginning. Many people complained the contacts made with them were very slow. People then believed the accommodation they pledged was not required or wanted. We lost some opportunities as a consequence of that. At the beginning, a little more than 50 people made follow-up calls, 40 from the Defence Forces and 15 from call centres. Many homeowners complained they were never contacted or were not contacted for a considerable period.

An article by Mr. Jack Power in The Irish Timesearlier this month was very insightful in highlighting the issues facing us as regards housing Ukrainian refugees. It is clear that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth was overwhelmed at the beginning of the war. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage should have stepped in and played a much bigger role, given its close links with local authorities. Some very good things were learned at the early stages of the pandemic about very direct involvement at local government level. The Government probably should have learned from the mistakes made at the very beginning of the pandemic from that point of view because the Department of Health was landed with everything. In essence, it was exactly the same and we repeated that mistake. We need to recognise that and not do it again if we find ourselves in a situation where we need to have a whole-of-government approach early on.

Certain issues, such as hotel quarantining, would have been better handled by the Department of Transport, but in the pandemic crisis, as in this one, there seemed to have been an attitude in Government that shunted the vast majority onto the one Minister, namely, the Minister for Health. The Irish Times article I referenced reported overcrowding in hotels, which provided the bulk of the accommodation for refugees. One such example was 40 people being placed in an unused building with only one working toilet and no cooking facilities. We all understand the urgency of the crisis, and I do not doubt that people were doing their absolute best and scrambling to put roofs over people's heads, but we have to set a clear and acceptable standard for the accommodation we put people into, even if is very temporary accommodation. We cannot repeat the sins of direct provision in this system. Yes, we have a moral obligation to take in refugees. I do not dispute that at all, but we also have a moral and legal obligation to ensure they are treated with dignity and respect when they are here.

I will move on to the issue of driving licences. This Bill will allow the Minister to sign an order that will recognise Ukrainian driving licences. The current arrangements, which have been in place since April, are that Ukrainians have the ability to exchange their licences for Irish licences that will be valid for a year. What has happened since that was announced in April? Was there no legal underpinning? Have issues arisen as a consequence of that?

We have seen that access to driving licences is fundamental for direct provision residents. It allows people independence and freedom of movement throughout the country. Of course, many refugees have no say over where they are placed in Ireland. Many will live in rural areas without access to public transport or with limited public transport, at least. The difference, however, is that asylum seekers are asked to go through the Irish system to gain driving licences, unlike Ukrainian refugees. I understand the sheer number of Ukrainians entering the country would make that near impossible to do in a timely way on an administrative level. I accept that. However, it really is a contrast for people who have been asylum seekers compared with the people who are here as refugees from the war in Ukraine.

There are people who have had to fight battle after battle with the Government to achieve what is now rightly being granted automatically to Ukrainian refugees.

Aside from the importance of freedom of movement, road safety is another issue. There is a possible issue here. Was the Road Safety Authority consulted on this decision? Did it raise any issues with regard to road safety? The data I can find show there is three times the rate of fatalities in Ukraine in comparison with Ireland. Even if there is a temporary arrangement, there should be some other arrangement if there are road safety issues. The whole idea is to keep our roads safe for everybody who will use them. I accept there is an urgency about this, but it would be wrong not to flag it as requiring some consideration when we inevitably deal with some more permanent arrangements.

Of the nearly 39,000 Ukrainian refugees who have arrived so far, an estimated 25% are under the age of 13, with 50% being over the age of 20. As such, access to the national childcare scheme is vital and I welcome that element of the Bill. The difficulties Ukrainian women are having accessing childcare highlights the systemic issues in childcare provision for families throughout the country. Childcare costs are insurmountable for many in Ireland, let alone for refugees who are here without the family support systems they could have relied on at home and many of them will not have an income stream.

Lack of childcare is one of the biggest barriers between Ukrainian parents and access to work, education and training. Cost is a bigger issue for those who are not proficient in English. Regardless of their level of education or professional experience, without English, their access to well-paying employment will be limited. However, accessing English language classes is near impossible without access to childcare, which they cannot afford because they cannot get a well-paying job. The issue is kind of circular. Ukrainian women have been caught in the vicious catch-22 that is affecting many families in Ireland. Are particular supports being put in place to navigate the childcare system? If so, will the Minister outline them to us?

Cost is not the only barrier. There is an overall shortage of childcare spaces. It is difficult to navigate for those who have knowledge of the system, let alone those who do not. This is an urgent issue in the summer months when children are out of school. The Government needs to increase funding significantly into the early childhood care and education, ECCE, sector in the upcoming budget. I know there have been changes but there are also problems. A lack of access to childcare has an incredible knock-on effect on families throughout Ireland and, of course, it has a disproportionate impact on women.

With regard to Stardust, a section of the Bill makes provisions for the jury at the Stardust inquest. I welcome this long-awaited legislation and pay tribute to the families of the victims of the Stardust fire who have campaigned tirelessly for this inquest.

We also have to acknowledge that there are officials in some of the Departments who have had to do an incredible amount of work at a very challenging time, especially in the Department that has done the heavy lifting on this. While I will be drawing attention to some things that need to be done and shortcomings in the legislation, it is important to balance that with acknowledgment that there has been a considerable additional burden on staff in that Department. Lessons have to be learned about spreading that burden and about where there has to be the overall responsibility. The whole-of-government approach has to kick in at a much earlier stage than happened on this occasion.

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