Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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151. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a schedule of the number of staff by grade who are assigned on a full-time basis to liaise and provide support to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in order for that Department to fulfil its areas of responsibility in respect of providing for the needs of those seeking international protection and persons categorised by virtue of the temporary protection directive by the European Union; and if she will provide a schedule of the services that her Department provides to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in that regard. [50454/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As of 10 October 2022, a total of 52,585 people have been recorded as arriving in the State from Ukraine. The vast majority of those arriving to date are women and children.

There is a coordinated whole-of-Government response to support people arriving in Ireland who have fled the violence in Ukraine. Government Departments and services are working together to implement Ireland's commitments under the EU Temporary Protection Directive (2001/55/EC), which has been activated for the first time to grant temporary protection to displaced persons from Ukraine.

My Department is primarily responsible for issuing temporary protection documents to those who are eligible. Those granted Temporary Protection have immediate access to the labour market, social welfare, accommodation and other State supports as needed.

The Department of Justice does not have staff assigned to Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) on a full time basis. The support which is provided to DCEDIY is in the form of shared access to the airline alerts inbox which contains numbers of Ukraine nationals on an agreed number of flights. Staff from the Border Management Unit of my Department staff also continue to welcome and process new arrivals at Dublin Airport as part of their usual immigration duties. Other staff from my Department are onsite in Citywest to ensure that people receive their temporary protection permissions as quickly as possible.

This is in addition to staff operating from Rosslare Europort on sailing days and at the Ukraine Support Centres in Cork Street in Dublin and in Limerick City. Other Department of Justice staff are also involved in a range of associated legislative, policy and communications matters.

Responsibility for the coordination of the work of volunteers and the community response to the Ukraine crisis primarily falls under the remit of the Department of Rural and Community Development.

As the situation in Ukraine continues to evolve, it is difficult to predict with any degree of certainty the number of people that may arrive over the coming weeks. However, the immediate and overriding priority is to assist those who have arrived and continue to arrive in Ireland to find safety with access to state supports as needed, as part of a whole of Government response.

I can assure the Deputy that my Government colleagues and I will continue to work with our EU counterparts on any further EU-wide measures that might be needed to assist those fleeing Ukraine.