Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the Minister and his efforts in the impossible situation the country has faced. I also wish to criticise every other member of the Government for throwing him under the bus effectively, because he is not getting the support he requires. Deputy Harkin alluded to this. We have all these committees all over the country, Cabinet sub-committees and local response committees, but these are not being followed up with local resources. If we want the extra bus that Deputy Harkin referred for the schoolchildren in Rosses Point, we could contact Anne Graham. She will tell us that Bus Éireann is a private company, so perhaps we should write to Jim Meade or Stephen Kent or whomever and perhaps they will be able to organise one for us. That is not a joined-up approach and this is a serious problem.

I am not a racist, zealot or xenophobe. I do not support the headers in East Wall and places like that and the types of protest being undertaken there. That does not mean there is not a serious amount of frustration out there, because there is. Outside Dublin, 30% of all tourism accommodation is now devoted to this crisis. We all want to do the best we can for people running for their lives, all of us. We cannot, however, be foolish and stupid in terms of our own capacity. There is no co-ordination at a European level for this crisis. There is no co-ordination in selecting destinations. You do not put people in tents in the rain in Dublin in winter when other member states, which are supposedly standing shoulder to shoulder with us, have a different climate, for example.

We have taken the equivalent of 1.4% of our population in terms of numbers of people running for their lives from Ukraine. I support that but it has not been reciprocated in other countries. Denmark, for example, a country which is comparable to Ireland, has taken a number equivalent to 0.67% of its population, less than half of what we have taken as a percentage of population. Since Christmas, about 5,500 refugees have arrived here, yet only 274 people have arrived in Denmark. Why is this? Does Denmark have a different policy? Does the temporary protection directive apply differently to that country? One of the things we must address is the fact that people are in a position to choose their destination themselves. I reiterate that we want to play our part. It is important that we talk about these issues because one of the problems building frustration is poor communication. The fact is people are not allowed to talk about these issues because otherwise you are beaten to death in the media, being called a zealot and a racist. I am neither. As an Irish person, like all Irish people, I am naturally welcoming and very conscious of our own story historically and the fact that we depended on the welcome of so many countries.

I have done research and while there is a health warning on the information I will provide, because we are not comparing absolutely like with like, the Department and Government need to look at it. We give a refugee in direct provision €38 a week. We give a Ukrainian refugee €230 a week. The corresponding amount in Denmark is €50 and only for the first six months. According to research, and again this needs to be checked, Belgium gives €7.90 per week. As a matter of fact, if I am a Ukrainian and I have a choice of the EU 27 nations, this is a no-brainer. I will want to go to Ireland because it is financially much more beneficial for me to do so. I am not saying that people are sitting down and making economic decisions. They are running for their lives. The figures speak somewhat for themselves, however. I know this is a sensitive and complicated issue but you can see why frustration will build.

Equally, when we are seeking to build and appeal for solidarity, which I want, building modular units to deal with the housing crisis in Sligo exclusively for Ukrainian refugees when there are 1,500 people on the housing list in the county will do nothing to build solidarity. We need to acknowledge some of these points. Deputy Harkin mentioned that there is modular housing available, at what price and how quickly it can be done. We do not have to go to Germany. There is a factory in Lisburn doing it and it will provide us with 100 units per week. Let us do all we can for the Ukrainian crisis but let us not take our own people for fools either. Let us communicate with them and get our European colleagues to face up to the fact that they are not doing as much as Ireland.

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