Written answers

Thursday, 28 April 2022

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Ukraine War

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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118. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the Exchequer funding provided by the Government directly or indirectly to Ukraine since the beginning of the recent war; the purposes for which this money was provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20986/22]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Funding to support Ukraine following the invasion by Russia has been provided through the Department of Foreign Affairs.  €20 million in humanitarian aid has been provided to the Ukraine emergency response which is funding the UN Appeal through a number of trusted agencies and the Red Cross movement. Ireland’s rapid response roster has also been activated with a number of experts expected to deploy to UN partners at a cost of €180,000. 

Ireland also contributes to the crisis in Ukraine through our core and flexible funding to key humanitarian partners and joint mechanisms, including the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) which has to date allocated €55 million to Ukraine and neighbouring countries. Ireland released €11.5 million to the CERF in 2022. Ireland is one of over 40 countries that referred the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is providing a further €3 million to the ICC, which will assist with regard to all situations before the court.

Ireland is also providing support through the European Peace Facility under which the EU has agreed three packages totalling €1.5 billion. Ireland constructively abstained on the lethal equipment elements of the packages and our support will only go to non-lethal elements. In financial terms, our total contribution will amount to approximately €33 million. These funding packages have not yet been fully disbursed and so Ireland’s full contribution may not be called upon in 2022. 

Our public funding response will be focused however on providing for the Ukrainians arriving in Ireland to seek protection. Providing the resources required to meet the needs of these arrivals is expected to involve significant costs, though the exact level of these will depend on a number of factors, including the total number of arrivals and the accommodation solutions.  No additional funding for this humanitarian response has yet been formally allocated to departments or agencies through Estimates brought before the Dáil.  

Work on detailed costings is still underway and being refined as more information becomes available and all Departments have been requested to report all Ukrainian refugee related spending to my Department on a monthly basis to allow monitoring. As there is generally expected to be a timing issue with regard to receipt and payments of invoices against when expenditure is incurred, it is anticipated that further information on payments made in relation to Ukraine will be available when end-April reporting is completed.

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