Ireland has responsibilities towards refugees because it is one of the “wealthiest and most advanced countries on Earth,” Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said.
Mr Donnelly delivered an impassioned defence of the State’s immigration policy when asked about the recent events in Inch, Co Clare and elsewhere.
He said the Irish health system could not function without people from outside the EU and the UK. Without them hospitals would have to close, he said.
Speaking before a Fianna Fáil think-in on health, he said the HSE is intending to do a worldwide advertising campaign to recruit new staff for the expanding healthcare sector.
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There has already been interest from consultants in the UK and he expects similar interest elsewhere. “They are seeing that it pays far in excess of what they are being paid in the UK,” he said.
“They see it comes with a €20,000 fund for training and research. We are hearing anecdotally that there is a lot of interest internationally in this contract. The HSE is going to be going around the world talking about this new contract. It is the biggest expansion in capacity and workforce in the HSE in decades.
“We are very fortunate to have an incredibly dedicated passionate international healthcare force in our country and long may it last.
“Many of us, including myself, lived all over the world and broadly we are welcomed in the countries we go to. Ireland has been an incredibly welcoming country. We are known for it. It is something we should take great pride in.”
The fact that the State has taken in more than 80,000 Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the war in February 2022 shows how Irish people are “incredibly understanding of the horror that people are fleeing”, he suggested.
“I think that this has to continue as we support people fleeing war and persecution. We need to be compassionate, we need to be welcoming and we need to be respectful of the debate in our own society.”
Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall said there was a lack of coordination at Government level as exemplified by the attack on asylum seekers sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin. There were 1,200 spare beds in rest centres that had been used by Ukrainians which could have accommodated them.
“There is no communication between the Department of Housing and the Department of Integration,” she said.
She told RTÉ's Colm O’Mongáin Show that there were proposals sent by the Department of Integration to the Department of the Taoiseach five months ago for new structures to allow for a more coordinated approach between different state agencies. There would also be a new communication strategy.
“It was recognised there was a gap in communication. Those proposals went to the Taoiseach department and have been sitting there for the last five months.”
Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway said the Government was dealing the refugee problem “in real time” and it was starting to deal with the refugees sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin. The number had reduced by more than a 100 in the last week, he told the programme.
