Danny Healy-Rae
Ceist:133. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice the number of Ukrainian refugees who have come to Ireland since the beginning of the war in Ukraine to date. [34763/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 29 June 2022
Ceisteanna (133)
Freagraí scríofa
As of 27 June 2022, a total of 38,288 people have been recorded as arriving in the State from Ukraine.
There is a coordinated whole-of-Government response to support people arriving in Ireland who have fled the violence in Ukraine. Government Departments and services are working together to implement Ireland's commitments under the EU Temporary Protection Directive (2001/55/EC), which has been activated for the first time to grant temporary protection to displaced persons from Ukraine.
My Department is primarily responsible for issuing temporary protection documents to those who are eligible. Those granted Temporary Protection have immediate access to the labour market, social welfare, accommodation and other State supports as needed. My Department has issued approximately 40,302 temporary protection permission letters to date.
My Border Management Unit at Dublin Airport began manually recording the large numbers of people entering the State from Ukraine though the airport when the visa requirement for Ukrainian nationals was removed on 25 February. Arrangements for data collection at other ports of entry were introduced shortly afterwards, as the State quickly scaled up its national response to the Ukraine crisis. The figures for the number of people arriving in the State through those various points of entry having fled Ukraine since the invasion, especially in the earliest days, may, therefore, be subject to some revision, leading to a higher number of people being granted temporary permission than would appear to have entered the State. Eligible people coming forward to apply for and receive their temporary protection permission letters is assisting the State to reconcile these figures and ensure that everyone is fully captured in the data collection and are receiving all of the State supports that they need.
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.