Housing Ukrainian refugees?

Harris is just like Leo and Simon and Helen. He knows he's out of a job after the next election. If they stay in Ireland they'll be looking for work with an NGO or looking for a career in Brussels or at the UN. Either way, the decisions they're making are not what's best for the people of Ireland they are making the decisions that are based around what Brussels wants to see implemented in the EU. Nothing more and nothing less.

We send almost a billion euro a year overseas in Foreign Aid money, government increases that in our budget year on year. We had 5000 Asylum seekers arrive this year, on top of over 40,000 Ukrainians with uncapped numbers having been given an open invitation to come here. We are part of many schemes bringing refugees here. We are borrowing billions to pay for this. We spend millions every year just on Direct Provision. I don't know what hosting Ukrainians has cost this year, I do know that already 3 billion is set aside for them next year. There was over 1 billion left in the Covid fund here, that was also spent on Ukrainians.

I'd love to know what the breakdown costs of us having had Direct Provision here from the start of the Lagos Express has cost us. All of it, the accommodation, the cost of their claims, everything from the admin staff to run the process, the solicitor and barristers and legal secrataries fees for all of it. The countless endless failed appeals that don't seem to have a limit. Then we got Helen McEntee announcing anyone who'd been here for 2 years waiting for the asylum claim to be processed could stay. Regardless of whether they are entitled to, regardless of whether they are criminals. Funny enough the application process is over 2 years.

Most counties have the bulk of their hotels/guest houses and B&B's fully occupied by Ukrainians and African/Middle Eastern refugees/asylum seekers. I'd love to know what that's costing. Factor in medical cards, free education, full social welfare payments, child benefit payment, HAP payments, back to school allowance and on and on and on and on and tell me how much you think we've spent, how much of that 40 billion is being spent on Irish people and the foreigners who are here legally with skills we need and then get back to me on how well you think Ireland has benefited compared to what we've invested because if anything we're going to have spent far more on it than we've gained from in in the longer term.

My solution, very simple. Anyone whose arrived here with no passport doesn't get considered for asylum, they're straight back on the next flight with the airline that brought them. Anyone with a failed appeal is on the first flight back home. Capped numbers every year on people we can accept and no more for anyone than what they'd receive in DP. An end to Foreign Aid money, we can't afford it. A balancing of the numbers we bring in on agreed schemes from the Middle East. An end to Ukrainian asylum seekers here. MM is in Kyiv or whatever it's called this week for a photo op. It's time to build tented refugee camps in Ukraine and let people rebuild their lives.

Thank you for the statistics. I'm sure that the money could be put to much better use in Ireland for people here who genuinely need that money, Irish people. We are spending a fortune, Christ only knows how much on hotels, guest houses and B&B's for scam artists from around the world while still sending hundreds of millions abroad. Why did our foreign aid peak in 2008? Oh yeah, the bubble burst and the IMF stepped in and stepped on our necks. The reality is sinking in with many not just in Ireland but around Europe, that a huge number of Ukrainians arriving as refugees are from areas unaffected by war and who are simply taking advantage of the opportunity to get to the EU.