Bernard Durkan
Question:12. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach when the most recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on a Humanitarian Response to Ukraine took place. [11563/23]
View answerTuesday, 28 March 2023
Questions (12, 13, 14, 15)
Mick Barry
Question:13. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the most recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on a Humanitarian Response to Ukraine took place. [14881/23]
View answer
Gary Gannon
Question:14. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach when the most recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on a Humanitarian Response to Ukraine took place. [14891/23]
View answer
Ivana Bacik
Question:15. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on a Humanitarian Response to Ukraine will next meet. [15091/23]
View answerOral answers (7 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 15, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on the humanitarian response to Ukraine last met on Thursday, 23 February and the next meeting is scheduled for this Thursday. The committee which I chair works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the State's humanitarian response for people arriving from Ukraine, who sought temporary protection here. The Government's co-ordinated response to the humanitarian crisis is extensive. Ireland has never seen so many people arrive in such a short timeframe.
Since the start of the war, almost 80,000 people have arrived from Ukraine and availed of temporary protection in Ireland. This is a refugee crisis, the scale of which we have never seen in our lifetime and perhaps, in our history. To date, Ireland has accommodated more than 80,000 people in State-sourced accommodation. This includes people who have fled here from Ukraine and people from outside of Europe and other parts of Europe seeking international protection.
In light of the acute and growing pressures in the face of continuing arrivals, the Government is stepping up action to maximise the pace and scale of sourcing suitable accommodation. An accommodation working group has been established to assist with the sourcing of State accommodation and to accelerate the refurbishment of suitable buildings. We are also expanding and advancing a programme of work recently agreed by Government. This will allow consideration of commercial properties and sites for development, refurbishment or purchase and the use of alternative modular buildings. In addition to meetings of the committee, I have regular engagement with Ministers, at Cabinet and individually, to discuss matters of concern for their Departments. Work is ongoing across Government to intensify communications and community engagement on the humanitarian response. Government is keeping our response to all aspects of this humanitarian crisis, in particular accommodation options, under continuous review.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I ask the extent to which consideration was given to ensuring refugees were accommodated in as short a time as possible and that we do not have a situation whereby refugees have to sleep in the open or in the unsafe, insecure, unfortunate and difficult conditions that have been outlined in recent days and whether it is likely to be possible to make sufficient provision in the shorter space of time and, at the same time, filter the number of incoming refugees to measure them against the availability of accommodation because, otherwise, there is a grave danger that the whole situation may fall into disrepute. I ask that special effort be made to ensure the availability of that accommodation.
Teaching English as a second language is a key task and challenge for our infant and primary schools, given the increased levels of immigration, but the policy of the Department of Education - the Taoiseach's Government policy - is making the task of the schools far more difficult and has the potential to prove very divisive. Until recently, the norm has been for children to be entitled to two years of teaching of English as a second language. However, the policy has been changed. A child is now only entitled to this support for the two years immediately after their family has moved to this State. The result is that children born in this country, Irish citizens, whose families speak their native language at home, are now being denied this support. More recent arrivals, such as Ukrainian children, are being provided with this support, as they rightly should be. However, it is a divisive and, in some cases, racist policy.
I put it to the Taoiseach that it should be reversed immediately in favour of the original position, backed up with the necessary resources.
I thank the Taoiseach for responding to my letter in which I sought information on the co-ordination of services for those who have come here from Ukraine fleeing the brutal war being waged by Russia on their country. Further to that letter, can the Taoiseach give me more information on capacity in the education system for those children who have come here from Ukraine? A Labour Party motion addressing education matters will be before the Dáil tomorrow. We are hearing from schools across the country that they are at or near capacity, with nearly 15,000 pupils enrolled. They express specific concerns about the need for supports for those children in respect of trauma and other issues.
Has the Government approved the construction of the modular homes that were promised to house those Ukrainian refugees who do not yet have homes of their own, particularly those in family units? I understand it was the aim that accommodation for 2,800 individuals and family units would be provided in rapid-build homes to be managed by the OPW. The Taoiseach might let me know if he has a timeline as to when those sites will be ready.
I want to conclude by commending all those involved on the front line in providing supports to people who have come here from Ukraine. At the weekend, the Labour Party was proud to give its Jim Kemmy Thirst for Justice award to Ukrainian Action in Ireland and the Ukraine Civic Forum. Both groups have been to the fore in offering support and practical help to those who have come here from Ukraine.
It is absolutely shocking that hundreds of people coming here, whether from Ukraine or elsewhere, are not being given accommodation. The Government needs to seriously step up its efforts to provide emergency accommodation and repurpose empty buildings, of which there are very many. When we look at the nuclear poker being played by Putin, which raises the very real prospect of another Chernobyl, does it not give the Taoiseach a bit of pause for thought about the essentially "victory or death" response that the western powers seem to have to this terrifying situation and maybe about the role Ireland could play in arguing for de-escalation, some sort of ceasefire and peace negotiations? Does the Taoiseach see this going anywhere other than in a terrifying direction that could lead to disaster?
On accommodation, it is utterly shameful that there are over 400 people sleeping on the streets, and that will probably increase, at the same time as the obscenity of what has been going on in Mullingar. People ask me many questions, and I cannot answer them. How was what occurred in Mullingar allowed happen? That is the first question. How is it that a tiny group of people can deprive others of their human rights and civil rights? Why is it that we have so many empty buildings? I refer here to Baggot Street hospital, the old Jury's Hotel site in Ballsbridge and a plethora of religious buildings, including a big church in the city centre. It seems we cannot take these on, refurbish them and use them for accommodation for those unfortunates who have to sleep on our streets. Those are two simple questions that I am asked daily. I cannot answer them. Can the Taoiseach answer them?
On the war in Ukraine, it is obvious that appeasement has not worked. I have stated my view on that, and I explained it earlier. Of course Ireland argues for de-escalation, but de-escalation requires the aggressor to de-escalate. Ukraine was attacked. Ukraine is partially occupied. There cannot be a de-escalation until the aggressor de-escalates. Ukraine cannot de-escalate. What would that even look like? Would it mean Ukraine stopping the defence of its own cities and citizens? De-escalation has to involve the willingness of the aggressor to de-escalate. We had a very good engagement with the UN Secretary General in Brussels only last week and teased out with him the point at which it might be appropriate to have a UN intervention, for example, an independent intervention into the war in Ukraine. He was very clear that he would not be calling for a ceasefire at this point because he did not think that would be the right approach in light of the current situation on the ground and Russia's position of victory or death. That is the greatest difficulty. I do not think President Putin cares how many million young Russians die in that war. President Zelenskyy does care about how many Ukrainians die in it. He does not want to see Ukrainians left behind enemy lines. He does not want to see the Ukrainian children who have been deported to Russia not returned. That could happen in a ceasefire scenario. All of this needs to be borne in mind.
On refurbishment, we have about 700 buildings we are using at the moment to accommodate people from Ukraine and other parts of the world. We were not using those buildings this time last year. We are refurbishing dozens if not hundreds more buildings, but they cannot all be done at the same time. There will always be some building that is not refurbished, but 700 buildings have been refurbished and 80,000 people were accommodated in the past year. It has been a Herculean effort. I thank everyone who has been involved in it. Had we had the amazing foresight two years ago to know that the war in Ukraine was going to happen and to build a city the size of Waterford that incorporated 20,000 accommodation units, that city would already be full. That is what we have actually achieved - 700 different sites and 80,000 people accommodated. We are going to refurbish more buildings and provide more in the year ahead.
The rapid builds have been approved. We approved between 500 and 700 in the first phase. They should be ready for occupation in the next few weeks. As we learned in the past with modular and rapid builds, they are not so cheap and not so rapid as many of the advocates say. We have to have a site serviced, it has to be ready, we cannot just drop them in a field. We have to order the units, they have to arrive and then we have to get them from the factory to the site. We have to make sure there are no low bridges along the way. If there are, we cannot even get them to the site. As somebody who has been actively involved in making modular builds happen, and they are going to happen, they are not as rapid as people would hope. That is just the reality.
On education, I may need to come back to Deputy Barry with a more detailed reply. I will speak to the Minister for Education about the matter. There are 15,000 children and young people from Ukraine who have been enrolled in 2,000 Irish schools. I thank the teachers, principals, school boards and school communities involved in this regard. They have been phenomenal. It is not a small thing to take in 15,000 children, with very little English in most cases, welcome them into a school and integrate them in the way they have been. I could not admire teachers, principals and school communities more for what they have done to respond to this crisis in the past year. As Deputies will know, through the regional education and language teams, REALT, we are doing the best possible to support children and young people from Ukraine. Teams work with schools, local educational assistance services and national assistance structures. Additional resources have been provided to REALT for the enrolment of Ukrainian pupils and additional REALT resources have been appointed to areas under pressure. REALT has been extended to provide assistance to children under the Irish refugee protection programme to find school places as well. In terms of capacity, the situation is very tight in particular parts of the country. We are continuously assessing the need for additional capacity in schools across the country. The REALT teams are developing an integrated approach to maximising utilisation of existing capacity for mainstream Ukrainian and special needs classroom requirements such as additional accommodation through school building projects and modular accommodation solutions.
On English language provision in schools, there are 960 English and additional language posts. They have been allocated to just under 2,000 primary and post-primary schools that have enrolled children from Ukraine. There are 187 special education teachers and 233 special needs assistants who have also been allocated to schools to help with the response.