Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This debate is overdue. I recognise the tremendous efforts of the Minister and the Department to deal with the crisis caused by what has happened in Ukraine. We will leave that discussion for another day. There is little doubt that these people have suffered great trauma. Seventeen days ago, I travelled to Lviv in Ukraine to see at first hand the conditions refugees were facing in advance of crossing the border. Things have improved and they are getting through more quickly, which is to be welcomed. There is a real challenge and the Minister does not need me to explain it to him. I have visited Poland and have seen at first hand how it is handling it. I do not think we have seen anything like the scale of the demand just yet. I hope and I have great faith in the Irish people that they will stick with it. Everybody I have met wants to be part of the solution right now. This will require holding the nerve as numbers increase. We are at 10,000. It is a long way to 100,000 and it is a phenomenal distance to 200,000 in terms of stretching not just accommodation but our services and resources. This gives the Minister time as the key co-ordinator to work with State agencies and services to ramp up.

Even in the early stages, they are under pressure, particularly in terms of health. Senator Garvey will know the area I am talking about very well - Lisdoonvarna, Doolin and Kilshanny. The principals of three schools there got together and, working with the Department, effectively managed a plan. They are doing so blind because the Department is catching up but they are driving ahead. They are looking at the employment of teachers and putting the infrastructure in place. That is great.

The health service is under enormous pressure anyway. We do not need to talk about Covid, etc., but there is a gap there. We need to look to the community that has arrived. I spoke to a number of people in the facilities over the weekend. I visited most of them in Clare. There are doctors, nurses, dentists and teachers. The skill sets are there within the community. I am not talking about employing them straight away. I am just talking about building that community, enabling it and giving it the cover to assist its own. These are high-functioning people who want to work. They do not want to be here. They would prefer to be at home and the bulk of them will go back in due course when things settle. They just need that support structure around them. It does not have to be overly burdensome. We just need key co-ordinators in locations with large numbers of refugees. I do not want to over-emphasise Clare, which has opened its arms. Support is needed there.

The Minister spoke about a location in Limerick as a point of contact. I think it should be at Shannon Airport because, quite frankly, people are coming through the airport. It has been done at Rosslare, which is the right thing to do at the point of entry. The journey from the airport to Limerick is a distance. The point of contact should be located at the airport and I ask the Minister to give consideration to that.