A Tipperary TD has reiterated his call for a cap to be put on the number of Ukrainian refugees which Ireland takes in.
Just over 28,500 people fleeing the war torn country have arrived in Ireland so far according to the Department of Justice.
Mattie McGrath says many services here are already at breaking point – speaking on Tipp Today earlier he said these would be tipped over the edge if we take in too many people fleeing from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We must cut our cloth according to measure. We can’t just flood in hundreds of thousands of people – we can’t look after the ones we have here.
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t bring in a limited number and look after them – say 30,000 – our country is a small country. Look at all the problems we have ourselves.”
Over 5.5 million Ukrainians are believed to have fled the country since the war began
Local Fine Gael Senator Garret Ahearn says talk of Ireland putting a cap on the numbers we take in is not acceptable.
“We are a country who pride ourselves on opening our arms and welcoming people from all nations into our country.
“This is a time when we can do it when people are leaving the worst atrocity that could ever be inflicted upon them – and then we’re talking about putting a cap on people coming in.
“Could you imagine ten years ago when loads of people were leaving Ireland – going to the UK, going to Canada, going to Australia – and those countries started putting a cap on Irish people going in. What would Mattie’s response be to that?”
