80,000 Ukrainian refugees have medical cards, Cabinet committee told

A Cabinet committee examining the refugee crisis has heard 80,000 Ukrainians are currently in receipt of a medical card.

Ministers were told the State has spent more than €2bn supporting refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ireland currently hosts 2.4pc of all refugees who fled the war and sought protection in Ireland.

So called beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTPs) who arrived in Ireland from Ukraine are made up of 49pc women, 22pc men aged over 20 and 32pc people under 20.

The Cabinet heard numbers being granted temporary protection appear to be decreasing;

Meanwhile, Ireland received 26,473 international protection applicants in the last year with the the top five nationalities of arrivals being Afghanistan, Nigeria, Georgia, Algeria and Somalia.

A briefing note said applicants from safe countries now receiving a decision in less than three months.

A minority of people from safe countries are granted asylum while ore than 87pc are refused.

Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Helen McEntee has commenced a review of Safe Countries of origin, examining potential to designate other countries as safe.

Everyone seeking international protection is fingerprinted and photographed and details are checked against international databases. Character and conduct checks also carried out by Gardai.

Everyone who applies for IP subject to Schengen Information System (SIS) check.

The committee was told migration plays a “vital contribution” to healthcare and economy.

More than 10pc of the HSE’s direct workforce comes from outside Ireland, the UK and the EU while the CSO stats show more than 500,000 workforce not born in Ireland.

To date the Government has allocated €100m for community recognition supports for areas who have taken in refugees.

More funding is now proposed to support the wider communities in question.

A €50m total funding over coming years, allocated on total numbers of arrivals in Local Authority, both Ukrainian and IP and will be used for sports facilities, walkways, music, art, festivals, derelict buildings.

The Department of Education is also seeking an additional €125m for additional capital projects.

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