Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
95. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Transport if his Department plans to provide free public transport to refugees who are arriving in Ireland from Ukraine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20887/22]
View answerI would like the Minister to comment on his plans in regard to Ukrainian refugees; their access to free transport and public transport in general; how his Department is operating on the ground with Ukrainians where they are, particularly those in reception centres, and where they are going to be for the short, medium or long-term; and what his plans are to ensure their time there is not as challenging as the first few weeks have been so far.
In line with the whole-of-government approach, my Department and the National Transport Authority have been working on practical and meaningful responses to the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis. From the beginning of the crisis, newly-arrived Ukrainians have been able to avail of free travel from their port of entry to the end destination on any public service obligation or Local Link service.
Indeed, many commercial bus services similarly offer this assistance in getting people to a safe location.
I was delighted to announce last week the provision of emergency public transport services to refugees housed in rural or isolated locations to ensure better access to our local communities. This will be achieved through an acceleration of network improvements identified through the Connecting Ireland public consultation, including additional stops, route modifications and more services with the aim to increase connectivity. Areas such as the Ring of Kerry will avail of such improvements, in practice catering for both existing demand as well as responding to the increased pressures on services where the local population has grown after the humanitarian crisis.
Additional bus services will also be deployed to cater for those housed away from the existing public transport network. The NTA is examining options to provide transport from the Earl of Desmond hotel, where many refugees have been accommodated, to Tralee town. Such measures will provide better access to a range of amenities, employment opportunities and to onward public transport connections to larger centres.
A community transport fund is also being established to support occasional travel requests. This will be operated by the Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link offices and will enable our Ukrainian guests to join in the many activities that are available in our towns, in particular activities focused on youth, integration, culture and education. Collectively, these endeavours aim to support integration of our Ukrainian guests into the local communities that are hosting them. We will keep the issue of transport provision under review as this situation evolves.
I need to outline to the Minister, as one of the three most senior people in government, the experience I am having on the ground in respect of transport and other areas as well. We have children who cannot get to school places. If they get a school place, they are not able to get to the schools. We do not have a co-ordinated response on that which is a problem today. The remedies the Minister has outlined will take a few weeks to roll out or be delivered and that is being optimistic. However, we have problems today.
There are social protection schemes but we do not have means to get these people into Intreo centres. We are having to organise Citizens Information staff to visit reception centres to talk to people. We have health issues. We do not have access to primary care. GPs are unable to take people on. Certain schools are not taking people. The Minister talks about a whole-of-government response but we are not seeing that on the ground. I am not trying to score points here. This is the reality I am experiencing.
It is a huge challenge and it was always going to be such for Ireland and every other European country. We are not alone. We have taken in some 25,000 people. The State we heard today is housing 16,000 to 17,000 people. There are real challenges in that because there are stages. Someone might arrive at Dublin Airport, Rosslare Port or another port and stay in Citywest for a period, then transfer to another location. There is a significant management task in this.
There is a large percentage of primary school children, in particular, but also secondary school children. Accommodation, education and other services have to be matched. It has to be recognised that for a family a hotel bedroom may not be the optimal. At the same time, congregated settings in this instance may be something that is very good and give people a sense of community and helps them get their feet on the ground.
I know that my colleagues, especially the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, and his Department are absolutely flat out. They are giving their all to make sure we have enough accommodation and working with the Minister for Education to make sure we match schooling and with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to match health services That is not easily done when 25,000 people-----
We are over time.
-----are arriving within a short number of weeks but our goal is absolutely to make sure that it is an integrated all-of-government response.
This is a monumental challenge. I have not even mentioned accommodation because that is the greatest challenge of all. However, in terms of managing what is happening on the ground now, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has been very receptive to my representations and I commend him on that but we need experienced State officials. I am thinking of community welfare officers and people who work in Citizens Information offices who could be a regular presence in the reception centres, be they hotels, decommissioned religious centres or whatever the case may be and are able to point these people in the right direction. They are able to point them to local transport and Intreo centres and solve the problems that exist on a day-to-day basis. This is a small ask but it has to be put in place. I beseech the Minister to bring this back to Government. The local authorities do not have the competency for this. They do not have competencies in social protection, transport, education or health. I am worried with the community forums being put in place that they will not have the adequate skills to meet the challenges.
The Cabinet discussed this at length earlier. The experience on a smaller scale but similar in terms of the need to give those integrated connections, from Syrian refugees arriving, is that local authorities can play a role, especially where they combine with the community, voluntary and other sectors. They have a key role in it. There will be a real role in terms of the director of services in particular within local authorities working with the community and voluntary sectors to provide exactly that sort of guide, connections and real quality information as people settle to whatever varying time they stay. I accept the Deputy's point. We need that level of engagement. We are committed to providing it. Local authorities will have a role working with the community and voluntary sectors.
