Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues in Fine Gael for bringing forward this motion and giving us an opportunity to discuss the crisis in Ukraine and all the matters relating to it. Many Senators, this week and last week, have outlined the horrific things we have been seeing. It feels very close to home because it is very close to home. There are other conflict zones around the world, but this war has, for different reasons for different people, grabbed the hearts and minds of Irish people. The outpouring of love, support and generosity from the public has been phenomenal.

The situation in Ukraine is appalling. It is a cruel and barbaric invasion of a western democratic country, where people's freedom of choice and liberty are being undermined and threatened by a dictator, Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian people will feel the impact for decades to come. Many of them have fled their homes and businesses. I discussed this issue with friends recently. The experience these refugees have gone through would be like us here having to pack our bags, leave behind the houses we saved for, the cars we bought and all our belongings, and try to fit our entire lives into one bag or suitcase. We might then be stopped at the border and have to leave our husbands and fathers behind while we continue the journey onward alone. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must feel like to go through such an experience, then to land in a country about which people know little - perhaps nothing - to try and start a new life and protect their children. If the same were to happen in reverse, if any of us here had to pack our lives into one bag, bring our children with us and move to Ukraine, with no date to return home, how would we cope with and handle that situation? It is unbearable to think about, but that is what Ukrainian people are dealing with now.

I refer to the situation at border areas. Poland in particular is dealing with huge numbers of people. All the countries bordering Ukraine are trying to deal with a humanitarian crisis whose scale is many times greater than the situation we are dealing with.While it is difficult here, it is much more difficult in those countries. I commend our colleagues in those neighbouring countries. Poland jumps to mind because I know it has taken the largest number of refugees. It is doing everything it can to facilitate, by housing, feeding and providing education, medical assistance and mental health supports to so many people. It is an incredible response from those countries and we are following their steps in trying to do the same thing for the refugees. I think some 600 are arriving here every day and a total of 15,000 or 16,000 have already arrived. We believe it will be about 30,000 by the end of April. The numbers are enormous for a small country like Ireland. We will manage and we will deal with this. It will be difficult; there is no point saying otherwise.

The Government's response has been very good. We really need to make decisions as we go. We are dealing with issues as they happen and we are resolving them along the way. There has been no time to plan and prepare for this. Credit is due to all Departments and Ministers who are dealing with the areas of education, housing, health, justice and social protection. Every Minister across all Departments has been on this issue and is doing a fantastic job.

I also pay credit to our local authorities. I recently spoke to one of our directors of services. In Mayo we have welcomed a number of refugees already but the local authorities in Cork and Dublin have faced the initial wave. They are effectively putting together lists of community halls, hotel rooms, guest houses, and bed and breakfasts that are not operational and can be brought back into use. It really brings home the scale of the challenge presented to all our local authorities. They are looking to put in place contingency beds, which are effectively camp beds. Today we have been talking in this Chamber about the tented village to be set up close to Dublin.

It is an immense task for the country to try to deal with. We need to be very cautious if we are putting people into such emergency accommodation. We have been used to referring to emergency accommodation as being hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses. However, that is still not a permanent home. Now we are talking about tents, which really cannot be a permanent fixture. This must be an initial place where refugees come for maybe a week or so.