It is unedifying to see any attempt being made in the House to engage in political point scoring on both sides on such a serious issue. It is fair to say that across Ireland, communities have been dismayed to see people fleeing the brutal war in Ukraine having to sleep on the floor in Dublin Airport. That is a matter of grave concern, dismay and distress to communities across Ireland that have been so generous in offering refuge to the thousands of people who have had to come here because of the brutal invasion of their democratic, sovereign homeland by Russia; by Putin and his brutal army.

It is disappointing that there was not engagement back in the spring or earlier in the summer by the Government to ensure that we would have short-term, medium-term and long-term planning in place in order that this would not happen. Back in July, I hosted a briefing here in the Oireachtas with members of the Ukraine Civil Society Forum at which they called for that level of planning to be put in place, and at which they and members of the Ukrainian community here called for a co-ordinated whole-of-government response led by the Taoiseach. That is what is needed now.

For too long, it seems, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has been left to bear almost full responsibility for the housing of and provision of support to those who come here fleeing war and to the communities here who are supporting them so generously and ably. That has not been good enough and that is why we are in the position we are in now.

We in the Labour Party want to offer constructive support and engagement with the Taoiseach and the Government and that is why I wrote to him yesterday seeking that he would provide all Opposition leaders and spokespersons with a briefing on the current status of accommodation for those fleeing war in Ukraine and, indeed, those seeking international protection. I sought that briefing on the current situation but also sought a briefing on future planning. In the spring, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage wrote to us in the Opposition and asked us to supply him with details on vacant properties in our areas, and we sent details to his office. Through our party’s housing spokesperson, Senator Moynihan, we put forward a range of properties in our constituencies, including Baggot Street hospital in my area and other properties too. I have been engaging with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman's, Department, as have other colleagues. We have not heard back with updates on the properties we have proposed.

We want to see local communities and local authorities be far more strongly engaged in this process. We want to see a whole-of-government approach and a ramping-up of efforts to unlock the capacity we know is here in this country. We have been very generous in our approach but across Europe we have seen generosity. The Czech Republic has taken in four times as many refugees from Ukraine per head of population as we have. We are seeing enormous efforts across Europe because European democracy is under threat. The Taoiseach is absolutely correct; Putin is weaponising refugee flows and we cannot let him win. That is why we need to ensure the Opposition and the Government are engaged together in this collective effort.

First, I accept the Deputy’s bona fides. I received her letter yesterday and we will set in train that briefing she requested.

Those countries closest to Ukraine have the highest numbers of Ukrainians coming in, namely, Czechia, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Latvia. Then you have Cyprus, Slovakia and Germany and then you have Ireland. We are taking the equivalent of about 1.2% of our population. Ireland is ahead of Austria, Finland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Croatia, Sweden, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Malta, Greece and France in terms of the numbers we have taken in. We need perspective on it. It is challenging for all countries and, to be fair to the other countries I mentioned, they have challenges on international protection as well as the situation in Ukraine.

As for the approach being taken, I chair a Cabinet committee on this. A group of senior officials meets every week, and has been meeting every week, on this issue to try to identify new opportunities, Baggot Street hospital being one. That is being developed but it is going to take time in terms of the physical work that has to go into getting it ready. Moreover, the reconfiguration of public and private buildings is under way across the country to create additional capacity. There is rapid-build housing and while concerns have been expressed in communities, with some public representatives against it, it will have to be a feature of housing generally into the future. These are good-quality houses that can be built much faster. We have already started with 500 units but that will have to go to a much higher level. I foresee a significant ramping up of rapid-build houses to respond to the general housing issue and to help with the emergency created by those fleeing war in Ukraine and with emergency housing more generally. Overall, about 55,000 people have come in from Ukraine and we are looking at about 14,000 individuals this year seeking international protection. We have other pressures within Europe relating to emergency housing, whereby people who present as homeless come in looking for emergency housing. There is a general increase in the numbers who are seeking fairly quick access to housing, in addition to the general housing situation.

Those are the plans that are under way and they involve a lot of Departments, such as the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence, which are represented on that committee. For example, a number of barracks and other Army facilities that were formerly used for other purposes are being reconfigured with a view to providing accommodation and so on. The Department of Foreign Affairs co-ordinates the issue and keeps the rest of the Cabinet abreast on what is happening in other countries within Europe and the pressures they are under. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, obviously, is a key part of it and the local authorities have been doing a lot of work in respect of this issue. They will continue to do so and will do even more, along with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, of course, which has been the lead Department in respect of the broader issue of migration and integration into the country.

I thank the Taoiseach for indicating that he will engage formally with Opposition leaders and spokespersons on this. I welcome that. It is very important that we ensure the strong political support is there across the spectrum and across Opposition and the Government. We have seen divisions being sown in other countries over this issue and it is really important we do not allow that to happen here. That is really commendable.

I also thank the Taoiseach for engaging with me on the Baggot Street hospital site. I have also put forward other properties, however, as have my Labour Party colleagues. We await a Government response on that. It would be very welcome to have a process where we can feed in constructive proposals to address this, including the ramping up of modular housing. As the Taoiseach said, that does offer a way forward.

It is good to hear about vacant State-owned properties that are being repurposed, which is very welcome. The Ukraine Civil Society Forum asked for better management and co-ordination, however, including communication with local authorities and communities and a proper structure to manage the response, monitor standards in welfare and facilitate all the offers of pledged accommodation. This should offer clear communication from the centre of Government and as the Taoiseach said, a clear sense that this issue is being addressed across all Departments to the same degree. That does not appear to be the case in the public perception. It is very important that we see leadership from the centre of Government.

I want to confirm the Deputy's points about those displaced over the weekend. That was disappointing. We do not want that situation to happen. All Ukrainian displaced persons and international protection, IP, applicants who were not accommodated over the weekend have now been contacted and offered accommodation.

On the co-ordination front, I am aware of the issue because we met with the various groups over the summer. In my view, it has to be a cross-departmental and multi-departmental approach. That is why at Government level, having a Cabinet subcommittee and a senior official group is the best structure to do that. There were some suggestions early on that one would appoint an individual from outside the system who would endeavour to co-ordinate it. In essence, however, it has to be done across the Departments and the public service.

A second call will be initiated through the local authority system with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage having an oversight view to make that stronger and more streamlined into the future. As I said, work on the reconfiguration of existing buildings and other buildings is also on the way. We will seek and need the co-operation of everybody when we start doing things expeditiously in terms of procurement and value for money. All of that will have to be put to one side as we move ahead in this.