It appears as though the government have a major problem on their hands in relation to allowing, or not allowing Ukrainian refugees to go on holiday to Ukraine for Christmas.
The prime minister said there is no timetable for deciding whether to limit the state’s offer to Ukrainian refugees, reports RTE.
Leo Varadkar said it “makes sense” to adapt the government’s proposal to other western European countries.
However, he said no decision would be made this week but “maybe in the next couple of weeks, we don’t have a timeline yet.”
The ruling comes after “robust” talks between the government last week about possible changes to state-provided housing for people arriving here from Ukraine, with no agreement reached.
Speaking in Co Kildare, Varadkar said that “if and when” changes are made, “it won’t be just one Department involved”, adding there are several ministers who should play a role.
“Minister [Roderic] O’Gorman has responsibility for accommodation, Minister [Helen] McEntee has responsibility for the EU law and the directive itself. There is responsibility though education, healthcare and social protection. We need to pull all that together and we are just not at that point at the moment, but perhaps in the next few weeks,” he said, reports RTE.
“We have to look at the whole thing in the round: how it impacts on schools, healthcare and on the housing situation as well. All of that is very much at the front of our minds. We are getting to the point quite soon where we will have accepted and welcomed 100,000 people from Ukraine to Ireland and I am really proud that we have done that, and provided accommodation, shelter, healthcare, education, heat light, income and jobs,” the Taoiseach added, reports RTE.
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