The State’s approach to accommodating refugees and asylum seekers must change, the Taoiseach has said.
Leo Varadkar told the Dail that there is a limit on the capacity that the Government can provide for people fleeing the war in Ukraine and international protection applicants, adding that, “we’re very much at that currently”.
Mr Varadkar said the Government did not know if it would be in a position to provide accommodation supports for another 50,000 people, “if that number arrived over the course of the next year”.
International Protection
Pointing to the most recent figures, he said the numbers of refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Ireland each week has not dwindled in recent months.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, 97,505 Ukrainian refugees had arrived in Ireland by October 15th.
Meanwhile, up until the end of September 8,906 asylum seekers had arrived here.
The Taoiseach warned that, based on those numbers, the Government may not be in a position to continue providing accommodation.
“Based on current numbers, it wouldn’t be far off that and we just don’t know if we’re able to provide that level of accommodation,” he said.
Secondary movements
The Taoiseach also said there are now a lot of “secondary movements” to Ireland, with Ukrainians who have been living in other Western European countries moving to Ireland for the better supports and social welfare benefits on offer.
“It’s a long-standing issue with international protection,” he said.
“People who have been living safely in other parts of Western Europe for a period of time, then coming to Ireland and claiming asylum.
“Some of this is linked to the fact that we have a better offering in Ireland than would be the case in Northern Ireland or Britain or France or other countries that are not too far from us – and that’s why we have to review the situation.”
The Fine Gael leader also said the Government’s overall intention was to bring Ireland’s offering “more in line with other Western European countries”.
He noted that “there’s no Government decision or agreement on it” but said, “work is very much underway”.
