Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, I accept the Deputy’s bona fides. I received her letter yesterday and we will set in train that briefing she requested.

Those countries closest to Ukraine have the highest numbers of Ukrainians coming in, namely, Czechia, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Latvia. Then you have Cyprus, Slovakia and Germany and then you have Ireland. We are taking the equivalent of about 1.2% of our population. Ireland is ahead of Austria, Finland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Croatia, Sweden, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Malta, Greece and France in terms of the numbers we have taken in. We need perspective on it. It is challenging for all countries and, to be fair to the other countries I mentioned, they have challenges on international protection as well as the situation in Ukraine.

As for the approach being taken, I chair a Cabinet committee on this. A group of senior officials meets every week, and has been meeting every week, on this issue to try to identify new opportunities, Baggot Street hospital being one. That is being developed but it is going to be take time in terms of the physical work that has to go into getting it ready. Moreover, the reconfiguration of public and private buildings is under way across the country to create additional capacity. There is rapid-build housing and while concerns have been expressed in communities, with some public representatives against it, it will have to be a feature of housing generally into the future. These are good-quality houses that can be built much faster. We have already started with 500 units but that will have to go to a much higher level. I foresee a significant ramping up of rapid-build houses to respond to the general housing issue and to help with the emergency created by those fleeing war in Ukraine and with emergency housing more generally. Overall, about 55,000 people have come in from Ukraine and we are looking at about 14,000 individuals this year seeking international protection. We have other pressures within Europe relating to emergency housing, whereby people who present as homeless come in looking for emergency housing. There is a general increase in the numbers who are seeking fairly quick access to housing, in addition to the general housing situation.

Those are the plans that are under way and they involve a lot of Departments, such as the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence, which are represented on that committee. For example, a number of barracks and other Army facilities that were formerly used for other purposes are being reconfigured with a view to providing accommodation and so on. The Department of Foreign Affairs co-ordinates the issue and keeps the rest of the Cabinet abreast on what is happening in other countries within Europe and the pressures they are under. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, obviously, is a key part of it and the local authorities have been doing a lot of work in respect of this issue. They will continue to do so and will do even more, along with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, of course, which has been the lead Department in respect of the broader issue of migration and integration into the country.

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