Sinn Féin TD Pauline Tully has said the Government's policy on immigration is flawed because, it means, in some cases that Ukrainian refugees are receiving more from the state than Irish people. Deputy Tully also said that from the outset the government was wrong in agreeing to take in more asylum seekers than the country's services and resources could cope with.
When the war in the Ukraine broke, comments by the government that Ireland would take in 200,000 people fleeing the conflict were "ridiculous", Deputy Tully said. The Cavan-Monaghan TD said such comments were made with "no planning whatsoever" and Ireland can't even handle half that number. Speaking on the Joe Finnegan Show recently, Pauline Tully questioned the social welfare package offered to Ukrainian refugees saying that, in some cases, there are asylum seekers to this country receiving more state help than Irish people.
"Ukrainian families coming into this country were offered PPS numbers to work straight away. That wasn't a a bad idea, people should be allowed to work," Deputy Tully said, "But, they were also offered free medical cards with no means test and were also offered social protection. They were offered more than a lot of Irish people are entitled to and this is wrong," the TD added, "No one coming into this country should be entitled to more than Irish people."
