Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 May 2022
105. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the support that is being made available by Ireland directly to support the ongoing efforts to shelter and provide for Ukrainians driven from their homeland by the aggression of the military forces of President Putin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23174/22]
View answerI remain extremely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
In addition to prepositioned funds with UN and other partners, my Department, through the Irish Aid programme, has made over €20 million available to respond to the needs of Ukrainians most affected by the Russian invasion. This includes funding through UN agencies including UN OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO, as well as the Red Cross Movement. This includes support to refugees in Poland and Moldova, as well as those internally displaced and has enabled immediate assistance to be delivered to Ukrainians in need.
My Department is also supporting Irish NGOs working in partnership with local civil society in Ukraine and its neighbours are being supported through a dedicated civil society fund. Ireland has provided In-kind assistance of medical supplies in response to a request by the Ukrainian government.
Taken together, these Irish Aid interventions are enabling partners efforts to support over 3.5 million Ukrainian people in need, with our focus on the priorities for assistance identified by the UN. These include cash, education, food security, health, protection for women and children, shelter and sanitation. For example, Irish Aid assistance is enabling UNHCR to maintain 145 temporary reception centres. To date, more than 66,000 children have been engaged in formal or non-formal education provided by UNICEF. The ICRC has distributed over 2,000 tonnes of medical supplies, food and relief items.
The Irish Aid rapid response register has been activated and a number of Irish rapid responders have been deployed to work with our UN stand-by partners in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.
This Irish Aid support is additional to the efforts at home, which have seen over 27,000 Ukrainian refugees welcomed in Ireland so far.
