Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 4(2)) (Scheme Termination Date) Order 2026: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-24 ============================================================ Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel As students of media and journalism, I am sceptical of them already. I am fearful about how they might misinterpret what I am going to say. That is always the paranoia in politics. Our guests are very welcome. I hope they enjoy the day. I will not speak for too long. We spoke about this matter last year when the measure to which it relates was extended. I will raise one point with the Minister of State. I do not know if it is possible, but it was an issue last year and the year before. The decision that is made to extend the measure is not taken until the very last day. There is always a fear - obviously unfounded - because the Government will always support the Ukrainian people, but I wonder if it is possible to make the decision slightly earlier. The measures we have and that we are extending are important for those people who are very generous in putting up their homes or rooms to accommodate Ukrainians who came to this country. Many people did it on the back of the images they saw in 2022, in particular those of innocent young children being evacuated from their cities and homes and being killed. As Irish people do, we reached out the hand of friendship and love and opened up our homes to support them. People did it not knowing how long it would be. Certainly, no one anticipated that we would be into the fifth year of this conflict. It is an extraordinary thing for so many people across the country to do what they have been doing. There are people in these Houses who have done it very quietly. There are loads of people across the country who have done it. It is really important to recognise it. They certainly do not do it for financial gain, albeit there is a financial contribution to recognise what they have done. They do it in the interests of helping other citizens. It is incredible to think that we have people in this country who have given over their homes to citizens of Ukraine for more than four years. Obviously, we do not want that to continue forever. We want peace and we want Ukrainian people who want to go home to have the opportunity to do so safely. There will also be Ukrainian people who have set up lives here and who want to live here in the long term. That is an opportunity for them too, which we should welcome because we have seen over the past four years the incredibly positive contribution Ukrainian people have made to our country at all levels, including in instances where they have opened up businesses. I know businesses that have opened up in Cahir, Clonmel and right across Tipperary. They have built really good businesses for themselves and integrated within communities, including small communities. There is no better image than seeing Ukrainian children in school, in particular in primary school, develop and integrate. They play GAA and integrate with Irish culture. They also bring their culture to young Irish children. It is a really good thing to see. I have seen it for myself. I have a young child in primary school, and I can see how that can expand the young mind of a child in terms of looking beyond their own village and seeing a bigger world, one of diversity but in which people are the same. That is very important for our culture and the youth of today. I have just come from a meeting of the committee on foreign affairs in respect of Ukraine that lasted two and a half hours. We received a briefing from the Ukrainian committee of foreign affairs on the war, support and things that are needed. The position in that regard is from last year or the year before. Lviv was bombed today and other cities were hit hard. Eyes and media have focused on Iran, Palestine and other very serious conflicts but nothing has changed for the people of Ukraine. We need to make sure the message of solidarity and support continues to come independently from Ireland and certainly from the EU. When we take over the Presidency of the EU, I know the Government will prioritise supporting Ukraine diplomatically. That is incredibly important because, when you note the wars happening across the world, you see there is a real challenge for the EU regarding the question of how countries distance themselves from a war in Iran without that impacting on the war in Ukraine. The President of the US could easily wake up tomorrow morning so frustrated with the EU over its not supporting him in a war in Iran that he could decide to end all financial and military support for Ukraine. That would leave a huge burden on the EU and it is something we have to be very delicate about. We need to be conscious of it as we hold the Presidency for the second six months of this year. That is a broader point. The legislation under discussion has been welcomed. There has been a payment reduction but there needs to be a phasing out. When there was a reduction, we did not see any reduction in the number of homes, in particular, that were used. Therefore, it has not been a deterrent to people continuing to show the support and solidarity they have shown, which emphasises the point that people do not actually do it for money. They do it because they want to support vulnerable people looking for shelter. I thank the Minister of State for his contribution in the Seanad today and for the work he and his officials in the Department do to support the people of Ukraine. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:46+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-24