Disused hotels part of refugee ‘solution’
The first dozen refugees who have escaped from the front line in war-torn Syria are expected to arrive here in the coming weeks, it was also confirmed, after being relocated from camps in Greece and Italy.
Up to 700 offers from the public to house refugees arriving here are still being considered. Various properties are being examined by the Irish Red Cross, including vacant hotels, Ms Fitzgerald explained.
She said that the Hazel Hotel in Kildare had already been adapted to accommodate refugees staying there.
“There’s some modifications being done to some buildings already that were hotels. We’ve had a wide variety of office accommodation, commercial accommodation, we’re also looking at what the State has that might be suitable and we’ve had self-catering and apartment blocks. There’s a wide variety of offers that have been made so we now have to assess that.”
Ms Fitzgerald also confirmed that refugees under a separate resettlement programme would be accommodated in Cork and Kerry over the coming months.
Altogether, 240 refugees, mainly from Lebanon and Jordan, will be housed in the counties this year and next, the Department of Justice confirmed last night.
This group are separate from those caught up in the recent refugee crisis.
The newer scheme to accommodate refugees from the front line here will see applications fastracked, after which people can work and integrate into society.
The minister said that applications could take up to 12 weeks to process.
“They will have to have an assessment done and they will then move onto a more permanent place for them to stay. In the first instance what we’ve been asked to do is keep the family groups together, provide support and accommodation and the basic necessities for people who have been through a traumatic experience and then help them to integrate,” the minister said yesterday ahead of the special taskforce meeting.
Meanwhile, the minister criticised Austria’s decision to build a wall on its borders, as it struggles to cope with huge refugee numbers. Ms Fitzgerald said that the move would “evoke very traumatic memories” across Europe.
The Irish Red Cross last night said that good progress was being made on the plan to accommodate up to 4,000 refugees here over the next two years. However, there could be more than this, admitted the charity’s secretary general Liam O’Dwyer.
Officials agreed at a meeting of a special taskforce yesterday that the existing direct provision system for refugees should not happen again, Mr O’Dwyer said.
Separately, junior justice minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin yesterday said efforts were being made to find solutions for almost 500 refugees permitted to stay here who have can’t find accommodation.
The individuals have been unable to leave their direct provision accommodation due to the housing shortage.
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