Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his measured approach and for the very reasonable questions he asked. It is important we talk about this issue but in a considered way. We should never lose sight of the fact that what we are experiencing across Europe is the worst refugee crisis since the 1940s. Some 4 million people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine and roughly 2% of them have come to Ireland, which is approximately 80,000 people. Of course, in addition to that people from the Balkans and outside of the European Union are seeking international protection, some of whom come to Ireland. That has created an enormous challenge for us. We have had to find accommodation for approximately 100,000 people in the past year or so, and we have. It might not always be the kind of accommodation that we want but we have been able to provide shelter, food, accommodation, education and healthcare for nearly 100,000 additional people in the past year. I think when history looks back on that period it will reflect well on us, not so much as a Government but as a country, that we were able to take in 100,000 people who were fleeing war and seeking international protection.

I want to acknowledge in particular the very real welcome people in County Clare have given people coming from Ukraine and for that reason €3 million was allocated to County Clare as part of the community recognition fund. But it does create pressures on schools and on GP services. When it comes to schools, heroic work has been done by the Minister, Deputy Foley, by the Department of Education and by teachers and principals. There are now 14,000 Ukrainian children in Irish schools who are generally doing very well. They are learning English, making friends and becoming part of the community. In my view, that is a big achievement. Yes, it has put pressure on GP services. When I was a practising GP one of my jobs was to go to a clinic once a week and look after the health needs of newly arrived asylum seekers in Kilmacud at the time. It is tough because the consultation takes two or three times as long compared to what it would with an Irish person because of language difficulties, the need for a translator, and even cultural differences in how people describe their symptoms. That makes that consultation two or three times longer and puts huge pressure on GPs. There is not a quick fix to it but the kind of things we are doing, other than of course providing medical cards for people who need them who are coming to Ireland from Ukraine and elsewhere, is increasing the number of GPs we are training. That will soon be up to 300 per year quite soon, which is a doubling of the number of GPs we train every year. We are examining a very interesting proposal from the University of Galway to establish a new graduate entry programme into medical school for those who live in rural Ireland and who want to do remote and rural medicine. That would create a dedicated stream of people who are a little bit older going into medical school, who want to stay in Ireland and who particularly want to engage in remote and rural medicine. The University of Galway has a really interesting proposal in that regard but it does take time from when we start training people now for them to be available.

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