Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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209. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the details of the supports that his Department has provided for Ukraine and for Ukrainian people since February 2022, whether in Ukraine or within the State; the number of people supported, where relevant; the estimated cost and value of the support where available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8877/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As the Deputy may be aware, a whole of Government approach has been adopted regarding the response to the Ukrainian crisis. Within my own Department a high-level group was initially established to work in collaboration with the Senior Officials Group (SOG) lead by the Department of An Taoiseach to develop solutions to issues in the transport sector with the potential to inhibit the overall response.

To date, support has been provided by my Department on two particular fronts;

Driver licensing and recognition of Ukrainian national driving licenses

As an interim measure, the Road Traffic (Recognition of Foreign Driving Licences) (Ukraine) Order 2022 came into law on 22 April 2022, to allow Ukrainians admitted to Ireland under the Temporary Protection Directive to exchange their Ukrainian licences for Irish licences. The Order was revoked following the introduction of European Union Regulation (EU) 2022/1280, which came into force on 27 July 2022, allowing for EU-wide recognition of Ukrainian licences for people admitted under the Temporary Protection Directive.

The EU Regulation also allows for the recognition of Ukrainian Certificates of Professional Competence (CPC), required to drive a truck or bus professionally, subject to the holder undergoing compulsory training. The Road Safety Authority is working on developing the detail of this compulsory training and legislation will also be required. My Department is working on the relevant legislation, which is expected to be in place shortly.

Travel and public transport

On the 21 April 2022 I announced that my Department and the NTA would be providing emergency public transport services to Ukrainian refugees housed in isolated locations across Ireland. €4.5m was allocated in 2022, with a further €2 million allocated in 2023 for emergency measures. This funding is being utilised as follows:

- Acceleration of elements of the new Connecting Ireland plan: Certain routes identified by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in their Connecting Ireland public consultation held in Nov-Dec 2021 are prioritised and accelerated. This acceleration serves a dual purpose by catering for both existing demand as well as responding to the increased pressures on services where the local population has grown as a result of the arrival of Ukrainian refugees.

- Additional services, routes, and trips delivered by the deployment of new shuttle bus services as well as supplementing existing public transport offerings in identified towns and villages; Additional stops, trips and days of service are provided in accordance with identified needs.

- A once-off Community Transport Fund has also been established to support occasional social travel requests, such as buses to English lessons, children field trips, and local social events. This fund is being managed at the local level by the fifteen TFI Local Link offices across Ireland.

I also note that “Port of entry to end destination” free travel is provided to newly arrived Ukrainian refugees on any Public Service Obligation (PSO) or Local Link public transport service from their port of entry to their end destination.