Peadar Tóibín
Question:442. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of refugees from Ukraine who have come to Ireland seeking protection since the Russian invasion. [42406/23]
View answerTuesday, 3 October 2023
Questions (442, 443)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:443. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of refugees from Ukraine who have left Ireland and returned home, or to another state, with the intention of not returning to Ireland, since the Russian invasion. [42407/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 442 and 443 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, the EU Temporary Protection Directive (2001/55/EC) was activated by the EU Council in March 2022 in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The Directive establishes the minimum standards of protection to be provided by Member States in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons from third countries who are unable to return to their country of origin. In Ireland, the Directive is given legal effect under section 60 of the International Protection Act 2015.
Those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine and who meet the criteria set out in the Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382) are eligible for this temporary protection, initially for one year and on a renewable basis, as long as the Temporary Protection Directive remains activated.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine until 1 October 2023, 95,582 people have been granted temporary protection in Ireland.
In accordance with the Council Implementing Decision, individuals have the right to choose the Member State in which they want to enjoy the rights attached to temporary protection.
As there are no routine exit checks on people leaving the State it is not possible to say how many beneficiaries of temporary protection have since left Ireland to return to Ukraine or to reside in another EU member state. As at 24th September, 742 people had advised the Irish authorities of their having voluntarily withdrawn their temporary protection status in Ireland.
More broadly, discussions at an EU level have highlighted the challenges with estimating the number of people who have returned to Ukraine.
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.
Question No. 443 answered with Question No. 442.