Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 November 2023
44. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach the number of Senior Officials Group meetings in relation to the Government’s response to the war in Ukraine; the Government Departments, that were represented at each meeting, in tabular form [49904/23]
View answer45. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will publish minutes and or memoranda attached to meetings of the Senior Officials Group in relation to the Government’s response to the war in Ukraine in 2023. [49905/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 45 together.
Ireland is hosting over 99,500 people from Ukraine who have been forced to flee their homes.
The Government is ensuring effective co-ordination of our humanitarian response through the work of the Cabinet Committee on the Humanitarian Response to Ukraine, which I chair, and is assisted by the Humanitarian Senior Officials Group which is chaired by Department of the Taoiseach. Through this mechanism, all departments and agencies, as well as local government, are working to co-ordinate the State’s humanitarian response at a national and local level.
It is not the normal practice to publish minutes of Senior Officials Groups as they are established to support the work of relevant Cabinet Committees and the Cabinet. However, data on Ireland’s response to the Ukrainian crisis is routinely published by the CSO and is available at www.cso.ie/en/statistics/population/arrivalsfromukraineinireland/ . The latest data in this series was published on 24 October.
To date, the Humanitarian SOG has met 75 times since it was established in March 2022.
The following Government departments and agencies are represented at Humanitarian SOG meetings:
· Department of the Taoiseach,
· Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth,
· Department of Defence,
· Department of Education
· Department of Foreign Affairs,
· Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science,
· Department of Health,
· Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage,
· Department of Justice,
· Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform,
· Department of Rural and Community Development,
· Department of Social Protection,
· Department of Transport,
· Office of Public Works,
· Central Statistics Office,
· County and City Management Association,
· Local Government Management Agency, and
· Tusla.
In addition to the regular engagement between these departments, officials from other departments and agencies attend meetings as required.
