Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate. We have all accepted it is wide ranging. The expeditious nature and requirement of passing this legislation is not lost on anyone in this House, but there are a few points and questions I wish to put to the Minister and the Minister of State, and perhaps they could respond in due course. We should never let a difficulty be lost with regard to justice and the parts that allow for alterations and efficiency in terms of the registration of people coming to Ireland. This is an opportunity to look at the wider immigration system and how this could be applied, not just to those fleeing Russia's brutal war in Ukraine, but also to those fleeing other conflicts such as in Afghanistan or sub-Saharan Africa and our moral responsibility to them and, indeed more widely, to those who want to come here legally, who are not fleeing conflict but very much want to come to this country. Perhaps this is an opportunity to look at what is working in the emergency response to the conflict in Ukraine and see how that can be put into the wider immigration system.

I appreciate this is the legislative underpinning of vital responsibilities on the State, but it has to be said there is an element of fatigue across focus on this conflict. There is an element of fatigue in this Chamber. We have heard some comments from certain Members that were, frankly, downright nasty. Those Members are not in the Chamber or in the groups represented here at present, but those comments are unfortunately feeding an online narrative that was inevitable. It was going to come. We all have to push back against this especially nasty narrative. This is our absolute moral responsibility to the people who are being bombed out of their homes in Ukraine. We have not just that responsibility but that ability to cater for those needs. Therefore, this legislation is vitally important. We can truly be proud of the one-stop-shop initiative put in place by my the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in co-operation with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. I have spoken to a number of colleagues, on a European basis, who are looking at the Irish example and seeking to replicate that in other EU member states in terms of how to approach this in a more efficient way.

I had queries with regard to the transport and children aspects of the legislation. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, about the first area, transport, given that she is in the Chamber. In her opening address, she spoke at length about the difficulties the haulage sector has been facing in Ireland over the past 18 months. The Minister of State and I have discussed this a number of times. Of course, these difficulties are seen across the world, not just in the EU. We see them in America and many other places.

We must look at that opportunity, not just to support the haulage sector, but also to co-ordinate the opportunities presenting to attract more people into that sector. We talk about encouraging more people into the profession, the training and the apprenticeship scheme in the medium term through the Departments of the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Harris. We must also look at how we attract people from non-EU and non-EEA countries to come to Ireland to do those jobs, cognisant that many people from those countries have previously driven out of the United Kingdom but find that opportunity is no longer open to them.

The second area is with regard to driving licences. This is acutely important, given the fact so many people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine are finding themselves settled in more remote areas where there was a spare home or outside of the main urban or city centres. It is very important to ensure they have the ability to drive and to access transport by all the means possible. I had a query in terms of co-operation with the authorities in Northern Ireland to ensure licences will be valid there. There is an obvious reason. If a Ukrainian family have found themselves accommodated in Lifford and need to do their weekly shop in Strabane, they want to make sure, if they have access to a car, they continue to drive legally. I would appreciate clarification when summing up.

With regard to childcare provision and the area under the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, there are a couple of areas that are unique to this current situation. However, as was touched on by Deputy Catherine Murphy, they apply more generally to the pressures the early years sector is under at present. It is certainly something that comes up quite a bit in this Chamber as well as in all of our daily lives.

It is also about looking at making sure service providers are not just willing to take into their services children from the families of Ukrainian refugees but also about making sure they are able to do so, not just in terms of financial return or space but also that the language supports being given at primary school level are also being made available during early years. One mild anomaly that comes into the provision of childcare and education more generally is that language supports are provided in a unique scheme for Ukrainian refugees coming from the conflict. We must also bear in mind that, due to this conflict, there are a considerable number of Russian refugees who are finding their way into this country. They had either been resident in Ukraine for a considerable time or, understandably, they want to flee from Vladimir Putin's vicious dictatorship. They should be welcomed too and they should not be forgotten in this discussion.

The other concern that would come under the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is the €400 grant. We acknowledge that so many people signed up to this scheme and the 1,900 Ukrainians who have been accommodated so far have been hosted by people who had no concern for a €400 grant. It is something people were wary of and concerned about but they did not necessarily want to raise it in case there was a perception of mean-spiritedness, where there is none. People want to ensure they have the ability to meet the costs and, more appropriately, ensure they can provide the level of accommodation that is required for people who are fleeing this unique conflict. I do not know if the Minister is returning or if any of the other Ministers of Ministers of State will be able to tell me if there is provision for the €400 grant to be backdated to people who have provided or offered accommodation prior to this announcement and prior to this legislation going through the vital Stages. It is not necessarily something people are looking for, but if people have gone out of their way to make rooms in their house available or to make second homes or holiday homes available and they are eligible for the grant, they should be entitled to draw it down. That is not only in their interests but it is also in the interests of the refugees who have come into their homes to ensure those homes are kept up to scratch.

This is a welcome Bill and there is a duty on all of us not just to see it pass quickly through this House but to see that it is truly implemented. We must ensure we play our role as public representatives, not just for the citizens of Ireland but for all those resident here, including our guests from Ukraine, to ensure they know exactly what their rights are.

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