Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the Irish people for the extraordinary and overwhelming generosity they have shown towards Ukraine. The fact that centres all over the country that were set up to collect goods for shipping to Poland have had to stop receiving them because they were overwhelmed is really quite extraordinary. I note the statement by Dóchas this morning that it would be better for people to give money at this stage. If people donate money it can be directed to organisations working on the ground in a humanitarian capacity, including Child Fund Ireland, Christian Aid, Concern, Habitat for Humanity, the Irish Red Cross and Goal, among others. There is a substantial list of organisations on the websitewww.dochas.ie.

I also want to pay tribute to the recruitment industry who have reached out to me this morning to say that when people from Ukraine come to Ireland, they will need time to recover and get over the trauma and sheer shock of all they have been through.They are willing at some point appropriately in the future to look at a jobs fair, something to assist and start normalising lives again. I am very grateful for all that is going on there.

I want to pay tribute to my home constituency of Dublin South-Central. In several locations there have been gatherings of goods and of support. I am overwhelmed by the number of people who are contacting me offering accommodation in their homes for families, saying we have this many bedrooms, or a log cabin at the end of the garden, we are happy to accommodate families. It comes back to the fact that we have an incredible legacy, we are an incredible people when it comes to reaching out, having a heart for humanity and pulling together at a time of need. That has been manifest in what is now only a week. We have had an extraordinary response. I want to draw that to the attention of the House. I thank everybody for the support, most of all dochas.ie. In the future, let us see what we can do when we have given the shelter and the support.