Healy Rae urges cap on Ukrainian refugees

INDEPENDENT TD Micheal Healy Rae has called on the Government to put a cap on the number of Ukrainian refugees coming into the country, saying that ‘common sense must apply’.

Since Russia invaded the country in February, 31,000 Ukrainians have come to Ireland seeking refuge from the conflict, with the Government continually insisting that no limit will be placed on refugees.

The Kerry TD told the Irish Daily Mail that the Government must impose a limit on the numbers coming into the country to ‘make sure we take care of people properly’ in terms of housing, education and healthcare needs.

Approximately 21,000 people who have arrived in Ireland have sought accommodation through the Government, with thousands housed in hotels, hostels and B&Bs across the country and just 900 placed in accommodation pledged through the Irish Red Cross.

‘We won’t be able to do everything for everyone. Playing our part, doing what’s right and helping as many people as we can is of course of paramount importance,’ Mr Healy Rae said.

‘But to do that, and to do it properly, I think we have to look at where we say stop. Will it be 30,000, 35,000, 50,000, 100,000, 150,000?

‘Are the Government really saying that we’re going to be able to provide the same quality of housing, healthcare and educational services? Are we going to be able to do that if we don’t put a stop somewhere?’ Mr Healy Rae said the Government needs to ‘find right balance’, adding that having an open-door policy ‘is not going to work’. ‘This is nobody saying that we don’t want [to help], it’s the exact opposite. If you want to care for the people properly and do the right thing by them,’ he said. ‘Look at the housing needs of people who are on the homeless list here.’ The Independent TD also raised concerns over businesses in his own constituency that depend No open-door policy: Michael Healy Rae on tourist trade going into the summer season as hotel beds continue to be occupied by refugees.

‘There are people in small businesses who are relying on people going to the hotels wondering how this is going to impact them and their jobs,’ Mr Healy Rae said.

The Mail contacted a government spokesman for comment.

Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews said that while Ukrainian refugees should ‘absolutely’ be welcomed into Ireland, he warned the Government could end up ‘pitting’ those fleeing the war against people who are already on housing lists due to the lack of housing. The Dublin Bay South TD criticised the ‘failure’ of Government housing policy in recent years for not addressing the homelessness crisis that was rife even before the war in Ukraine.