The Irish prime minister said Ireland would likely make a solidarity financial contribution under planned new EU immigration rules rather than admit new numbers of refugees in the short term, reports RTE.
Leo Varadkar said the country would not be able to voluntarily accept refugees from other parts of the bloc because of current difficulties in finding accommodation for the nearly 100,000 people who have arrived from Ukraine and other countries over the past two years.
Mr Varadkar was commenting on EU proposals to deal with future heavy flows of migrants to the bloc.
While attending a meeting of the European political community in Granada, Spain, Varadkar also reiterated his support for EU enlargement.
Talking about the new migration rules, the Taoiseach told reporters: “I think from Ireland’s point of view it wouldn’t really be so much about taking a quota of refugees. We’ve accepted a huge number of people in the last year or two, maybe 100,000 people from Ukraine and other parts of the world, so I think we’re in a different place as a country now, really struggling to accommodate the numbers that we have,” reports Breaking News.
Mr Varadkar stated that Ireland could offer financial assistance to member states to support refugees.
“So, you can have the option of accepting refugees who are in other parts of the European Union, so they’re already in a safe place, or you can make a financial contribution,” he said, reports Breaking News.
“Realistically, where we are in Ireland at the moment is, having accepted over 100,000 people from Ukraine and other parts of the world in the past two years, I don’t think we’re really in a position to accept more voluntary transfers, not until we get on top of the accommodation situation,” reports Breaking News.
On EU enlargement and its potential cost, Mr Varadkar added: “I’m a strong supporter of Ukrainian membership of the European Union, not just Ukraine, also the Western Balkans and Moldova. And if you look at things in the round, if you take the broader view, the longer-term view, enlargement is always good for Europe, it helps to provide us with security, helps us to embed democracy and human rights, and also helps the European economy to grow in the round,” reports Breaking News.
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