Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, I spoke about the Ukrainian refugees who are being accommodated in this country. They are all extremely welcome. In my area of north County Clare there are almost 1,000 refugees and in Lisdoonvarna alone there are over 500 refugees. It was heartening to see some normality, with 66 pupils having started in the secondary school in Lisdoonvarna and 27 young people having started in primary school. We need to urgently ensure the necessary resources are made available.

I believe there are now 60 doctors from Ukraine in Ireland. I know there are five doctors and one orthodontist in Lisdoonvarna alone. There is a critical shortage of doctors and orthodontists in this country. I ask the Deputy Leader to contact the Medical Council. I contacted it yesterday and I still have not received a response as to what it is doing to recognise the qualifications of Ukrainian doctors to enable them to practise in this country. This is urgent as it would alleviate the challenges posed by waiting lists and overcrowded accident and emergency departments and tackle the queues of people waiting to attend GPs. They would also be in a position to attend to the medical needs of refugees who have fled Ukraine because these medical professionals speak their language.

I want liaison officers to be appointed in each Department. To take as an example, the Department of Transport, I have received a number of inquiries from people from the Ukraine about their driver licences. They want to know whether their driver licences will be recognised in this country. There is also a major problem with insurance. Will members of the Ukrainian community who have cars here or wish to buy cars be in a position to insure them or will the insurance companies return to type and rip people off? There is a war in Ukraine and I expect the insurance companies to act with integrity, decency, dignity and respect. Will they do that or will they rip people off? These questions needs to be answered urgently. I appeal to members of the media who are following this debate to ask the insurance companies if they are going to rip off Ukrainian refugees who are insuring their vehicles?