EMAIL WARNED IRELAND WOULDN’T COPE WITH 10,000 WAR REFUGEES

Government official raised fears over capacity to deal with crisis

- KEN FOXE

A SENIOR official warned Ireland’s asylum system could not absorb 1% of the predicted one million refugees fleeing Ukraine if they applied for asylum here.

The senior civil servant at the Department of Justice also cautioned of the risk of removing short-stay visa requirements for Ukrainians saying, it could incentivise fraudulent applications.

In internal discussions, concerns were also raised about a possible visa waiver programme for family members of Ukrainian nationals already in Ireland.

It said checks would have to be carried out by airlines and would “likely not be completed at all” because they would be too complex.

The Department’s Chief International Protection Officer David Delaney told senior management there was no “perfect fit”.

He said the unknown number of refugees planning to come was the most “significant variable”.