Departmental Staff

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 October 2022

Wednesday, 12 October 2022

Ceisteanna (57)

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

57. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will provide a schedule of the number of staff by grade who are assigned on a full-time basis to liaise and provide support to the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in order for that Department to fulfil its areas of responsibility in respect of providing for the needs of those seeking international protection and persons categorised by virtue of the temporary protection directive by the European Union; and if she will provide a schedule of the services that her Department provides to the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in that regard. [50459/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

I am advised that, while my Department’s officials regularly engage with the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth across a range of programmes, there are no officials assigned from my Department, on a full-time basis, to that Department specifically for the purpose of implementing the Temporary Protection Directive (2001/55 EC) (as activated by EU Council Decision EU 2022/382 of 4 March 2022), to provide immediate protection in EU countries for people displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While the Department is not engaged in direct service provision, support is being provided by the Department across its sectors and the bodies under its aegis, in facilitating access to accommodation through the tourism and sport sectors, as well as assistance with integration though the arrangement of Ukrainian cultural events.