Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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5. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade how Ireland is supporting the Ukraine humanitarian fund, UNOCHA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40563/24]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Michael McGrath. How is Ireland supporting the Ukraine humanitarian fund?

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Ireland remains steadfast in our support for the people and Government of Ukraine. The conflict, since the illegal Russian invasion in February 2022, continues to drive the numbers of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. As Ukraine faces into another harsh winter, Ireland's humanitarian funding will continue to target the most vulnerable, including women and children, displaced persons and those closest to conflict lines.

In 2024, Ireland is providing €23.5 million in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. This funding is part of an overall package of €36 million of support announced recently by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste in advance of the Taoiseach’s visit to Kyiv. This funding package includes €5 million for the Ukraine humanitarian fund directly. Managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Ukraine humanitarian fund provides a co-ordinated response to saving lives and strengthening resilience. It is a critical channel of support to the national NGOs and civil society organisations which are closest to communities.

Reaching across all of Ukraine's administrative districts, the fund provides essential protection, shelter and health. It assists populations affected by hostilities with food security and livelihoods, with education, and with the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene. As the conflict and related humanitarian needs evolve, the Ukraine humanitarian fund is particularly well placed to meet humanitarian and early recovery needs. Since February 2022, Ireland has provided €62.5 million in humanitarian funding to assist those in need, with €10 million in total channelled through the Ukraine humanitarian fund.

Ireland's overall support for Ukraine is multifaceted: political, humanitarian, military, and economic. We have committed €380 million in overall assistance to the Ukrainian people since February 2022.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge the announcement last month of that €36 million. It is very welcome. Perhaps the Minister of State will give the House an estimate on the overall contribution the State has made on that fund since its inception in 2022.

One of the most reprehensible acts that has been done in the Ukraine-Russia conflict is the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia and to Belarus. It is worth saying that many children have been deported to Belarus as well, and this is not spoken about enough or known widely. Does the Minister of State have any estimate on how many children have actually been returned from Russia and Belarus to Ukraine at this stage and how many families have been reunited? It is one of the most heinous and cruel acts that has been committed during this conflict. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State would provide an update.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I will give some further information on the breakdown of the fund I recently referred to, but now I will address the issue specifically mentioned by the Deputy.

We believe that up to 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly removed to Russian detention camps or into forced adoptions in Russia. I am particularly interested in this area because on the second anniversary of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia last February, I attended the second anniversary on behalf of Ireland at United Nations and spoke strongly on the issue. The United Nations felt this situation was so serious, there was a major meeting at that conference, which I was very pleased to attend, on what they called the stolen children. For example, if there was a bomb in an area and the Russian soldiers found children unaccompanied where the parents might have been in some other part of the displaced building or might have been injured, or if a child arrived in a hospital with no parent, they took those children back to Russia and gave them to families in Russia who wanted to adopt children. There have been some heroic efforts by individual Ukrainian people to find some of those children and bring them back. They are, however, moved from city to city so people would not be able to trace them. We are continuing to work on this. We do not have any official figure on the numbers for those being returned but it is quite small. This will be a lasting sore when, ultimately, peace comes and we have to reunite those families in the long term.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I commend the Minister of State. It is one of the sadder and more tragic aspects of the conflict. It is important to highlight it.

I will ask two supplementary questions if I may, one of which relates to the core homes project, through which a number of prefabricated or modular homes are being sponsored, built or constructed. Does the Minister of State have an estimate on the number we expect to deliver to Ukraine as part of the rebuilding?

I know quite a few Romanian and Moldovan citizens in Cork who are extremely concerned by Russian intervention in politics and online media in recent years. Will the Minister of State elaborate on how the Moldovans in particular are benefiting from this fund also?

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I can indeed. Some funding has been provided to Moldova. I may not have the exact figure here but I can confirm to the Deputy that funding has been provided in respect of Moldova and some areas very close to the Ukraine situation. A lot of the funding we are providing will go into reconstruction and building modular homes, as the Deputy mentioned. The figures I mentioned earlier are the humanitarian fund, but the redevelopment and reconstruction of Ukraine has to start as soon as possible. This is why a large amount of the funding we have committed to is for that reconstruction progress.

On the specific question on the modular homes, I do not have that answer here but I will make sure to get the information and forward it to the Deputy.