Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)

The Minister is very welcome back to the House for the second time today. We are delighted he has rejoined us in the House.

At the outset, the people can feel rightly proud of this country's response to the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The way people opened up their hearts and their houses to help the Ukrainians in their time of need is something we all can feel rightly proud of. It is even more noteworthy when many people opened up their own private dwellings to let people into rooms that might have been vacant, and that is before payments came in. That has to be recognised and appreciated.

Unfortunately, we are now into year three of this invasion. A resolution to this still seems a bit away, although it would appear that progress is being made but it is very slow. It is disappointing. As the Minister said in his contribution, up to 117,000 people from Ukraine fled here back at the beginning of the war. As of February 2025, that figure has reduced to approximately 78,000. The figures have gone down. Interestingly, I have come across a few statistics. Of that figure, something like 24,000 are in employment, 17,000 are either at primary or secondary school, and up to 13,000 have gone on to third level institutions. Many have integrated here. It is true that many have gone home as well but many remain and it is good to see them contributing to society, at work or going to school. It is good to see.

The accommodation recognition payment has served a purpose. I know people who had holiday homes and did not rent them out in the open rental market, but when this came along, they decided to use their properties to accommodate Ukrainian people. It has proved quite successful at a time when it is was an emergency situation and we needed an emergency response. Many property owners put their foot forward in that regard. The payment initially crept up. It is currently €800 and we are proposing to reduce that to €600 as and from 1 July 2025. I welcome that because there are instances in different locations where it did have an impact on the private rental market. Many people were competing for properties. Some of these properties were out of bounds, and while not all by any means, there was an element of people who perhaps availed of this scheme because the €800 was tax free, which is itself in some areas very attractive, whereas normally people are taxed at 50% of what they receive. It is a fairly hefty tax bill at the end of the day. Rents have moved on that much now that, whereas initially it might have been very attractive, it is perhaps less so today. The Government did and does recognise that there was a bit of an issue in that regard and have moved now to reduce this. That is very much welcome. It has served a good purpose but it is maybe less so now than before. Thankfully, many Ukrainians are working and are in position to contribute. Many of them do want to do that, which is very welcome.

I am happy to support the motion as outlined by the Minister. I look forward to the rest of the contributions from my colleagues in the Seanad this afternoon.