Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:1. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach the number of staff that were employed by the public relations unit and press office in his Department as of 20 January 2022 and the number currently so employed. [4437/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Government Communications
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:2. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the Government Information Service unit of his Department. [6927/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
The Government Information Service, GIS, includes the Government Press Office and the merrionstreet.ie content team and works on a cross-functional and collaborative basis to provide the Taoiseach, the Government and the Department with press office and communications services; ensure strong collaboration and co-ordination among press and communications officials in other Departments and agencies; co-ordinate, amplify and create communications around Government priorities such as Housing for All, climate action and energy, Ukraine, shared island, Brexit, Covid-19 and the national well-being framework; and lead the development of Government communications, facilitate and encourage capacity-building in the area of communications and engagement across the Civil Service and public service and manage the "Government of Ireland" identity and unified web presence, www.gov.ie.
There are 18.6 posts in the division, an increase of one from January 2022. This reflects the increasing workload of the Department, particularly regarding whole-of-government matters, including Ukraine, housing, shared island and climate action and energy.
It is fair to say that the Taoiseach earned a reputation for spin. During the last general election campaign, the current Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, was asked to define the Taoiseach in one word and he used the word "spin". Little did we know that a few months later, both he and the Taoiseach would be spinning around on a rotating Taoiseach deal. It is really important that we have transparency regarding how money is spent in the Department of the Taoiseach in this manner. During the Covid pandemic, tens of thousands of euro was spent advertising a phase 4 reopening. Shortly afterwards, tens of thousands of euro were spent promoting a reclosing, a safe Christmas and a locking down so two separate and contradictory messages were being delivered in a short space of time.
In his first outing as Taoiseach, the Taoiseach spent about €100,000 per month on this. We know the Department of the Taoiseach spent over €1 million on online advertising in 2021. Can the Taoiseach give us some information on the wages earned in the press office in his Department, including the highest wage and the average wage? Are private public relations companies employed by his Department and, if so, how much are they being paid?
I wish to raise Government communications around national security, which is a phrase often used as an umbrella term to avoid engagement on serious issues. On the issue of national security, we have seen serious concerns raised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, in the past week about the use of Hikvision cameras in the Houses of the Oireachtas. I know the Office of Public Works, OPW, is conducting a review but we require an urgent update given that other parliaments, including the European Parliament, have discontinued the use of Hikvision cameras because of concerns about Chinese surveillance of European institutions.
In the past week, we have also seen a ransomware attack on Munster Technological University, with personal data released on the dark web. The refrain of national security is a vital one in this instance but, unfortunately, it is often used to stymie debate and discussion. The Taoiseach will recall I wrote to him and the Tánaiste on 14 December last about the need for national security briefings for Opposition leaders, as is a common practice in other countries.
I am speaking not just about the issues I have just raised but about other concerns that have come to public attention, such as the involvement of dissident republicans in organised crime, the huge cyberattack on the HSE and very serious concerns about Russian Government operations and possible espionage in Ireland. Again, I have raised with the Taoiseach on several occasions the large number of accredited Russian diplomats located in the Russian Embassy in Dublin. I have raised with him reports that a US State Department assessment estimates Russia has covertly spent more than $300 million in recent years to influence politicians in many countries, including European countries. Personally, since I was named on the Russian sanctions list along with many others in this House, a large number of anonymous, or bot, accounts are now targeting my posts on social media. It is very observable that there is an impact from this.
Does the Taoiseach agree that in a democracy, opposition leaders should be briefed on matters of national security, and put in place a system to do so? When will a new national security strategy be published and will it be debated in the Dáil? Will we get an update urgently from the Office of Public Works, OPW, on the Hikvision issue?
We are currently getting regular radio advertisements and other advertisements from the Government Information Service, GIS, indicating to people that support is available for them if they are impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. The problem is that people who are impacted by that crisis are often very uncertain about these fairly general announcements and need a human being they can go and see to explain the often complex and difficult circumstances in which they find themselves when they are applying for things such as the exceptional needs payment. As I have repeatedly raised along with others in this House, we do not have, as we used to, a drop-in community welfare service, where people could go and talk to the community welfare officer, or the relieving officer as they used to be known, and explain their very specific circumstances rather than having to make appointments, which may not be for a few weeks' time, or do things online, which is often difficult for elderly people or other cohorts. While it is all very well having general advertisements and announcements saying people may be entitled to this or that assistance for the cost-of-living crisis, the reality is that if there is not somebody in the community welfare office whom people can drop in to and see on the day, they often struggle and have great difficulty in accessing the supports that may be there. Will the Taoiseach do something as a matter of urgency about returning the drop-in community welfare service to every area so that people can go down on a given day, see a community welfare officer and explain their situation to him or her?
The line of attack from Fine Gael over the past 24 hours seems to be one of arguing that Opposition members’ sums do not add up. I do not know how the sums add up in respect of telling people they have to wait for additional supports while they are struggling to make ends meet, while across Departments more than 192 people are employed in communications, or PR spin to use a different term. The relationship between Departments and Ministers who are particularly bad at communicating and the large number of communications staff who are employed by those same Ministers and Departments is staggering. The Department of Transport has ten communications officers and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has 11. That is 21 communications staff for the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, probably the worst communicator in Irish politics. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which the Taoiseach just left, tops the poll, with 15.5 such staff members. How can we justify having almost 200 employees whose sole job is to promote the Government at a time when there are so many pressures on services and on the delivery of supports to workers and families?
In respect of the questions about the communications function in my Department, I am not personally involved in any decisions on advertising, staffing or the awarding of private contracts to anyone for communications purposes. These are matters for the Secretary General. I hear what Deputy Carthy said about communications staff across Departments and I appreciate he has not had any Executive experience of serving in government. For those staff, who are almost all civil servants, they and their unions might be a little offended at the Deputy's suggestion that their job is to handle communications on behalf of politicians or Ministers. That is not the case. Ministers have one press adviser and that person is a special adviser. All the other communications staff working in a Department are civil servants and they do not promote or work on behalf of the Minister. They are there to communicate with the public and the Oireachtas. A lot of their time may be spent on communicating with the Deputy and his party - he might not realise that - and they respond to comments and questions from the media as well.
As for some of the costs, the breakdown of the staff is as follows, and these are the grades at which they are paid: principal officer, one; assistant principal officer, 3.6 whole-time equivalents; administrative officer or higher executive officer, nine; executive officer, four; and clerical officer, one.
On the question regarding Covid-19 communications, €2 million has been allocated for any expenditure that might be needed for Covid-19 public communications this year, although we do not anticipate it is going to be spent. In terms of online advertising, the costs incurred by the Department have fallen in recent years. The figure was €1.45 million in 2020 and, largely as a consequence of Covid, that fell to €1.1 million in 2021 and to €256,000 only last year, so the spend on Covid-related communications has been falling as the restrictions eased and as Covid has become an endemic virus.
On the question of national security briefings for Opposition leaders, I will certainly give that some thought. Different countries do things in different ways. I do not get a regular, quarterly or monthly national security briefing. It tends to happen on a relatively ad hoc basis, as needed. Maybe that should change and perhaps we should give consideration to providing Opposition leaders with national security briefings as well. There is not a tradition of doing that in Ireland. I know it is done in other countries but we would need appropriate safeguards around that and absolute confidence about it. All Opposition leaders are not the same in that regard, if I can put it that way.
Not all Ministers are the same at keeping things confidential.
I think that in the round, the community welfare service works well, and we have seen how community welfare officers have responded to the increased need for exceptional needs payments in the past couple of months, with a significant increase in the number of payments being made. Obviously, that is because people have needed them, but it also demonstrates there is capacity in the system to receive applications and make payments. The system at the moment is a mixture - online, by phone and by appointment - and I think that is probably more efficient in the round than a drop-in service, but it is something for the Minister for Social Protection to work on. I will certainly let her know Deputy Boyd Barrett has raised it on more than one occasion in the House.
Departmental Bodies
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:3. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department. [4088/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:4. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department. [5892/23]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:5. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department. [5895/23]
Jim O'Callaghan
Ceist:6. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department. [6888/23]
James Lawless
Ceist:7. Deputy James Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department. [6890/23]
Michael Moynihan
Ceist:8. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department [6900/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:9. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department. [6920/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:10. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the public service, justice and police reform division of his Department. [6926/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 10, inclusive, together.
The public service, justice and policing reform unit is part of the wider social policy and public service reform division within the Department of the Taoiseach. The work of the unit assists me, in my role as Taoiseach, on criminal justice and policing reform, public service reform, social affairs and other related matters, assists the Civil Service management board, including the Civil Service renewal programme, and contributes to the oversight and governance of the new public services reform plan. The unit also assists the work of the Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services and the associated senior officials' group established to oversee implementation of programme for Government commitments in the areas of social policy, equality, integration and public services.
The policy areas covered include gender equality, which encompasses efforts to reduce domestic, sexual and gender-based violence; area-based disadvantage, where my Department is involved in new approaches to community safety and also chairs the programme board extending the lessons from the new model of intervention in the north-east inner city to other areas that experience disadvantage; and a broad range of other social affairs matters, including arts and culture, diversity, social inclusion and child poverty, migrant integration, the Irish language, and sport. The unit incorporates the policing reform implementation programme office which oversees the implementation of A Policing Service for our Future, the Government's plan to reform policing in Ireland in line with the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. In addition, the section has departmental oversight of the National Economic and Social Council, participates in relevant interdepartmental committees and other groups, and provides me with briefings and speech material on all related matters.
I have raised the case of Shane O'Farrell with the Taoiseach, as has Deputy McDonald. It is approaching 12 years since Shane was killed by a man who should have been in prison at the time and five years since the Dáil and Seanad adopted resolutions calling for an independent public inquiry into the actions of An Garda Síochána and other State agencies both before and after Shane's death. The Taoiseach's Government at the time ignored those resolutions and instead established a scoping exercise, something no one had sought. The failures of the policing and justice system in the lead-up to Shane's death and the actions thereafter and to this day are significant not only to his family but are in the wider public interest. Will the Taoiseach please indicate that the Government will advance the establishment of the independent inquiry that is so clearly warranted in this case?
There are major problems in processing basic but often urgent and critical applications for people in my local authority. I think it is part of the wider problem of recruitment and retention of staff in key areas of the public service. I will give just two examples. If people are looking for medical priority in the housing list, often in very serious situations, they are now having to wait between six and nine months in my area just to get the application processed. For example, Leo, who is 73 years and has chronic spinal problems, is couch-surfing. He has been waiting five months for his application to be processed. Then there is another case of a couple where the husband was recently diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. He can no longer work and the couple are in very serious difficulty with their housing assistance payment, HAP, tenancy because it was based on their previous earnings. They are trying to get medical priority but they have been waiting months. I could go on through the list. The picture is similar for people who are looking to get their social housing eligibility assessed based on the new thresholds. We need to do something to ensure that staff resources are there to address these matters in local authorities.
I want to ask the Taoiseach something I have raised with his predecessor many times. It is on the reality of a hard border that exists for non-EU migrants on this island. For example, someone who is married to an Irish or UK national could be living in the North perfectly legally as a refugee or migrant worker but would not be able to travel to the South freely. That is something that is entirely in the gift of the Government to resolve to give these people the right to travel. Will he agree to do that and get rid of that aspect of the hard border? There is another question that relates to the British Government but that would create significant pressure. Second, does the Taoiseach agree that time spent living in the North should contribute towards demonstrating a connection with the Irish State in terms of establishing a right to citizenship and that this should be treated the same as time living in the South? This is a shared island. People in the North should be able to apply for passports. Will the Taoiseach meet with the North West Migrant forum on these issues?
On public service reform, has the Taoiseach's attention been drawn to the retention of people in the public service, particularly in care? Those working as occupational therapists through to speech and language therapists, for example, are different from those working in other sectors of the public service. They work in the public service first and then go into private practice. There is an issue with home care assistants who are in the old home-help role. There are people who were in that role and have left it. These are valuable public services who are needed for the most vulnerable in our society. Has the Taoiseach looked at this? What is the State doing to ensure care staff are retained? They are much needed in society.
"It felt like they were treating us like animals. It didn't feel fair. It felt like they were violating our privacy." Workers at JD Sports in Patrick's Street in Cork have, in the last week, highlighted the fact that they are regularly asked to lift their tops and show their bare stomach area to store managers. The store says the policy is part of its campaign against shop lifting. It already has the right to search bags and jackets when workers leave the shop. There is a real power imbalance here. On the one hand, we have an international corporation which is predicted to make over £1 billion this year, while, on the other, we have a group of young workers from Cork. It would be helpful if the Taoiseach would comment on this in the Dáil and perhaps indicate whether he feels if there might be a basis for some legislative change to outlaw situations such as this.
I raise the inconsistency in delays for women seeking domestic violence orders as reported by Ciara Phelan in today's Irish Examiner. She has raised serious concerns that domestic violence victims and survivors are waiting up to four months in some cases for courts to hear safety applications. It is, in effect, a postcode lottery as to how long a woman will have to wait, ranging from 16 weeks, or four months, in Trim, County Meath, to 14 weeks in Tullamore, 12 weeks in Carlow and Nenagh and up to eight weeks in Bray, Clonmel and Ennis. This is a real concern, particularly as we are seeing such strong plans and ambitions at national level on tackling domestic and gender-based violence. The shortage of judges and the absence of consistency in approaches to these applications across different courts are really serious matters of concern. How will this be addressed? Are there plans to appoint more judges? How will these inconsistencies be solved?
Finally, on Garda recruitment, can a review be carried out on what needs to be addressed to improve the attractiveness with An Garda Síochána as we are seeing shortfalls in the numbers of gardaí recruited?
Yesterday, Cóilín Ó Scolaí and his wife, Irene Kavanagh, were at the Four Courts in relation to the death of their child Laoise Kavanagh Ní Scolaí in the Coombe Hospital in January 2015. She died as a result of her heart being pierced when she was only two days old. I am sure that the Taoiseach will agree that this was an absolutely heartbreaking scenario for the family. Incredibly, we have another family which has had to fight the HSE through the legal system for seven years just to achieve justice for their child. Yesterday, it emerged there was a settlement. Where is the accountability for what happened to Laoise? Where is the disciplinary action for that? Will anything happen to anyone as a result of what happened to this girl?
Once again, I extend my condolences to Shane O'Farrell's family on his sad death. A scoping exercise was done. I think it was by a retired judge. I have not seen the report but I know the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, is very keen to publish the report as soon as possible. He wants to put the published report out there. We want Members to be able to read it for themselves so that, having read the report, they can make an informed decision as to whether a further inquiry is appropriate.
I understand there have been a number of inquiries already. We are very keen to be fair to the O'Farrell family but we also need to be fair to those being inquired into. Many of them have been inquired into already and we have to bear that in mind, and the impact on them and their families.
The common travel area between Britain and Ireland and between Northern Ireland and the Republic Ireland only applies to UK and Irish citizens. It does not apply to EU or non-EEA citizens, and that causes problems for them. I have raised it in my conversations with Prime Minister Sunak, particularly in the context of the proposal to bring in an electronic travel authorisation, ETA. That would make life unnecessarily hard for EU and non-EEA nationals who regularly cross the Border. That is a concern we have.
On the matters raised by the Deputy, I do not know enough about the details of that area. I appreciate he raised it with the Tánaiste when he was Taoiseach but I do not want to say something that may turn out to be incorrect without a proper understanding of it. If the Deputy sends me a short note on it or something, I will take a look into it and see if there is something practical we can do to help people to cross the Border freely, as they should be allowed to do, but does not have other implications that I may not have considered.
On the general question of public service recruitment and retention, public bodies and private companies across the board are struggling to recruit and retain staff. That is true in the public and private sectors and in almost every sector of the economy, among big companies and small, well-paid jobs and poorly paid. It is a reflection of the fact we have close to full employment in Ireland, which we have rarely had in our history. It is very much an employee's market. There is no sector of our economy or society that is not struggling to recruit and retain staff at the moment. I would rather be in this position of close to full employment than there being 10% or 20% unemployment, when recruitment and retention would be much easier, but it is a problem nonetheless.
What we are doing, particularly when it comes to health and social care, is increasing dramatically the number of people we train as nurses, doctors, therapists and health and social care professionals, recognising that the world has changed, people change careers and travel and, just to stand still, we need to train and recruit more than we did in the past. We are adjusting our policies to do exactly that.
The issue of Garda recruitment is linked to that. We have funding for 1,000 additional gardaí this year and that should be more than enough to cover retirements and resignations. We hope to see a net increase in the number of gardaí this year, heading towards a target of 15,000. I discussed this with the Garda Commissioner when I met him before Christmas. Recruitment slowed down greatly in the past two years because of the restrictions related to Covid. He and the Minister are confident it can increase significantly in the coming months. We need to see if that happens, but that is the position, as they are informing me.
I prefer not to comment on the issue in relation to JD Sports. I am not aware of the incidents that are happening. The first I heard of it was now. There may already be labour law or other laws covering this area. I am not able to comment without knowing all the facts or the current legal position.
On District Court waiting times, it is a Government priority to ensure the courts are resourced to administer justice efficiently and effectively. That is central to ensuring there is access to justice. The Courts Service works closely with the Judiciary to address backlogs and prioritise urgent work. However, a whole-of-system approach is required in order to address systemic challenges. The Minister for Justice is optimistic that both implementation of the recommendations of the judicial planning working group and the commitment by the Courts Service in its corporate strategic plan to maximise use of digital technologies to provide a more efficient and user-centred service will lead to improved efficiencies and shorter waiting times in due course. The Minister is very much aware of the delays in proceedings on vulnerable victims and it is important to point out that applications for urgent interim domestic violence orders are prioritised by the courts and are heard in the District Court on the day the application is made or at the next court sitting. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has requested a report on the disparity in waiting times between districts for family law domestic violence applications from the Courts Service. Waiting times for other domestic violence applications vary across districts but the majority hear these applications at the next sitting.
Like everyone, I have seen the newspaper and media reports on baby Laoise Kavanagh. I think we all feel for the Ó Scolaí and Kavanagh family and what they have endured. For everyone in this House it is difficult to comment on an individual case. None of us knows all the details and it would take anyone a long time to be fully across all the details of any medical case of this nature. When it comes to individual responsibility, where it relates to a doctor it is done through the Medical Council and where it relates to a midwife it is done through the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland.
Ukraine War
Pa Daly
Ceist:11. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the humanitarian response to Ukraine will next meet. [5817/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:12. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the humanitarian response to Ukraine will next meet. [6924/23]
John Lahart
Ceist:13. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the humanitarian response to Ukraine will next meet. [7242/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:14. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet sub-committee that deals with a humanitarian response to Ukraine will next meet. [7265/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 14, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on the humanitarian response to Ukraine last met on Tuesday, 31 January and the next meeting is scheduled for 23 February. This committee, which I chair, works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the State's humanitarian response to people arriving from Ukraine who have sought temporary protection here.
Since the start of the war, more than 73,000 people arriving from Ukraine have availed of temporary protection in Ireland. To date we have accommodated over 78,000 people who have fled here, between international protection applicants currently in the international protection accommodation services, IPAS, system and those fleeing the war in Ukraine who have sought accommodation from the State.
The Government is focused on managing ongoing pressures on accommodation and services and significant capacity challenges in the face of continuing arrivals. We are also advancing the State's move from an emergency response to a more mainstreamed sustainable approach. Such an approach will be consistent and equitable for all, in light of the high volume of people seeking asylum and the need to maximise all existing capacity. This will ensure the provision of services and assistance is in line with international obligations and consistent and equitable in terms of criteria, needs assessment and means-testing.
In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagements with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss matters of concern for their Departments. The Government is keeping our response to all aspects of this humanitarian crisis, in particular accommodation options, under continual review.
The efforts of the Civil Service, civil society and ordinary communities in welcoming Ukrainian people to Ireland have been nothing short of extraordinary but surely the recent allocation of responsibility for integration to the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O’Brien, is an acknowledgement that the Government's response needs a more focused approach. That Minister of State already has responsibility for two other Departments. In order to properly deal with the ongoing problems of implementing the White Paper and the six reception centres promised in it, co-ordinating a response and getting other Departments into line in dealing with the services which have been put under obvious strain by the influx, would it not be more appropriate to at least appoint a junior Minister whose sole responsibility is for integration, rather than giving the responsibility to an already overburdened junior Minister?
I acknowledge the huge welcome and solidarity shown in communities across Ireland to those who have come to our shores seeking refuge. The Taoiseach has given the figures. We are all conscious of the enormous welcome and warmth there is. What is lacking is a strong co-ordinated response from the Government, particularly to the accommodation of refugees and those seeking international protection. We in the Labour Party and across the Opposition, as well as in the Ukraine civil society forum, have consistently called for stronger co-ordination and more support from other Departments for the Department of the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, than appears to be the case currently and, in particular, for the appointment of a dedicated junior Minister with responsibility for the housing of refugees and those seeking protection.
We need a point person, which we have pointed out on numerous occasions. I have consistently raised the need for us to have a point person who will co-ordinate information to public representatives and to whom we can furnish information on large vacant buildings. In my constituency, the offers we suggested of Baggot Street Hospital and the empty Jurys hotel at Ballsbridge, which has more than 400 rooms, are simply going into the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. There is no sense that there is any one co-ordinated point that will follow up on these offers. We hear that the International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, is under-resourced and simply does not have the capacity to take up offers of accommodation that have been made to it. That is very serious.
We also need to see a co-ordinated national information campaign from the Government. We are seeing very worrying signs of mobilisation by the far right and the exploitation of an information vacuum by a small number of sinister actors in spreading disinformation and then protests and intimidation. We need to see a national information campaign similar to that rolled out during the Covid-19 pandemic to counter the myths that are spreading.
Finally, I ask the Taoiseach to take on the social media companies because their platforms are allowing misinformation to spread. They are facilitating, in some cases, violent and intimidatory protests and, indeed, attacks on public representatives. Is the Taoiseach planning to meet with Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and others about this spread of disinformation?
One of the scandalous aspects of the direct provision system is how it has often left direct provision residents and asylum seekers at the mercy of management and those in management abusing their power against them. What measures are in place to stop this happening with regard to Ukrainian refugees who are staying in places that did not previously have refugees, for example, hotels?
I was in touch with Ukrainian refugees who told me an extremely concerning story about what has been taking place at The Address hotel in Citywest in which 141 Ukrainian refugees are staying. The State is paying the hotel for them to stay there. They spoke about the extremely poor quality of food being provided to them, which is overwhelmingly fried food that is having very negative consequences for their children's health in particular. They have seen a deterioration in their children's health and in the quality of food since they moved in there on 1 July of last year.
They have no capacity to cook their own food. They have no access to the kitchen and cannot have proper cooking facilities in the hotel rooms. They are now paying for this food, and since they have been paying for it they approached the management and asked whether the food could be improved and whether they could have more fruit and vegetables and so on. The approach of management was horrendous and extremely rude and brusque, including someone saying, "You need to eat less so you can be slim like me." It is a horrendous abuse of power. Then, to top it off, the three representatives of the refugees were evicted from the hotel. They were evicted from the only place they have to live because they were standing up for the refugees and negotiating with management about that issue. It is a horrendous abuse of power. What measures are in place to ensure this sort of thing cannot happen?
We are approaching the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, which is a humanitarian disaster that has not been seen in Europe for generations. It looks, unfortunately, like we are about to see a period of significant escalation in the war in the coming weeks. We are in a very dark stage as the world is pouring weapons into the region at the moment. It is clear that Russia is the aggressor. It is responsible for the horrendous violence and the disaster that is unfolding. As the Taoiseach said earlier, Russia is responsible for bringing the invasion to an end.
What efforts are being made, either by this Government or the European Union, with regard to seeking peace and potentially creating some opportunity for negotiations? Most wars end in negotiations. Most peace comes from some level of negotiations, but the voices for peace are invisible at the moment. Is any effort being made by the Government, either dealing directly with Russia or through the European Union, to see if peace can be achieved?
I thank Deputies for their questions. When we talk about the whole issue of Ukraine and the wider migration issue, we need to put it into context. We are seeing a war on the Continent of Europe the likes of which we have not seen since the 1940s. We are seeing refugee movements across Europe the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetimes, certainly not since the 1940s.
We have seen a trebling of international protection applicants from outside the European Union coming into Europe and also into Ireland. This is an unprecedented situation. I do not think we have seen as many people on the move for a very long time. The last time we would have seen something like this in Ireland would have been in the aftermath of the Famine and that was people moving out rather than in. Not far off 100,000 people have come to Ireland in the past year, either from Ukraine or other parts of the world applying for international protection.
Even if we had amazing foresight two years ago and decided to build a city the size of Waterford with 20,000 houses and apartments, that would be full by now. That is the scale and the numbers with which we are dealing. When we consider it that way, we have performed very well as a country and a society. We have taken in more people from Ukraine on a per capita basis than any other country in western Europe and provided them with shelter, heat and light, accommodation, access to education and healthcare and protection. When we look back on this period, we as a country will be proud of the contribution we have made to help Ukrainians escape the terrible war that has been visited on them by Vladimir Putin and those around him.
When it comes to the appointment of a Minister of State with specific responsibility for integration, which has been proposed by Sinn Féin, or a Minister of State with responsibility for the housing of migrants, which has been proposed by the Labour Party, I am not sure if that is the appointment of one new Minister of State or two. By the way, I do not think it is a bad idea but the law sets out very clearly that we can only have 20 Ministers of State. I am not really sure what is being proposed here. Is it additional Ministers of State to bring that figure to 21 or 22 or is it that we should suppress existing posts? If so, which ones, and why? I would be very reluctant, quite frankly, to come into the Dáil with legislation to increase the numbers of Ministers of State unless I had an understanding from other parties about whether we can increase the number from 20 to something higher, which I am open to, or whether we should abolish particular positions and if so, which ones and why. If we are going to do anything on it at all, I would really seek all-party consensus on it. I do not want to come into the Chamber and propose the appointment of extra Ministers of State only to be told this is a terrible thing by the same people who would have been calling for it for months. I hope Deputy Bacik will accept that I am sincere in that regard.
I want to say on the floor of the House that the response from the Government is co-ordinated. I do not think it is fair to say it is not. There is and must be a lead Department, as there must be for everything. In this case, the lead Department, appropriately, is the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. There is a co-ordinated response from Government, however. There is a Cabinet sub-committee, which I chair as Taoiseach. Senior officials from my Department are across what is going on.
To give Deputies a few examples as to how other aspects of the State and the Government have helped out, as we know, the Defence Forces have provided accommodation in barracks and camps and are willing to do more. The Department of Transport provides services in the airports and ports where people arrive. The Department of Justice has a role to play as well, of course, in border control. The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has and will provide student accommodation in the summer for refugees, as needed. The Department of Foreign Affairs has regular engagement with the Ukrainian and other authorities. The Department of Health has provided medical cards and health services for tens of thousands of people. The Department of Education has made sure that 14,000 Ukrainian children have been enrolled in our schools. The HSE has put forward dozens of buildings to be considered for refurbishment to accommodate migrants. The Office of Public Works, OPW, is in charge of putting in place 700 modular homes for Ukrainians this year. It is, therefore, a co-ordinated response. The suggestion that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has been left to do it all on its own is unfair and does not stack up when we see how many other people in different Government Departments and agencies who do work in different aspects of the State are really doing all they can to help out.
I do not have any have any plans at the moment to meet with the online platforms. However, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, do engage with the online social media platforms on a regular basis. I may ask them to take up the point in their particular meetings.
I am aware of the complaints that have been made in relation to the Address Hotel. I understand they are being investigated.
I believe we all agree that the best way to achieve peace in Ukraine is for Russia to withdraw, and if not withdraw fully from Ukraine then at least withdraw to the borders and the line of control that we had one year ago. While it is the case that from time to time EU leaders are in contact with Russia, it is not something I am doing. I have no particular relationship with President Putin. I have only met him once very briefly, but there are others who do. Those who have been in contact with him have come away with a very grim assessment that there is no interest and no willingness on the Russian side to de-escalate this conflict. We must bear in mind that it is the Russians who are firing missiles into Ukrainian cities and who are sending their drones to attack Ukrainian civilian targets. It is not the other way round. The Ukrainians cannot stop doing that. It is Russia that is occupying Ukrainian territory. What can the Ukrainians do? Should they stop defending themselves? I do not believe that is a realistic ask. I would never ask them not to defend themselves. The only prospect of peace arises when there is a change of heart and a change of minds in the Kremlin, and a willingness at the very least to pause and to pull back. That would appear to not at all be the case. In fact, they are planning an escalation and planning on murdering more people and doing as much harm and damage as they can.
Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar www.oireachtas.ie.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.
Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 2.01 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 3.04 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 2.01 p.m. and resumed at 3.04 p.m.