Irish Red Cross check almost 23,000 housing units as €20m raised for Ukraine appeal

Children from Ukraine receive soup at a railway station in Przemysl, southeastern Poland. Picture: AP Photo/Sergei Grits

The Irish Red Cross is hoping to raise €26m in its Ukraine emergency appeal and it has planned out funding interventions over the next two years.

Some €20m has been donated to the appeal so far, with €15m coming from public donations and €5m coming from businesses.

The €26m target is based on analysis of the humanitarian needs of their Red Cross partners in Ukraine and surrounding countries, the huge numbers of refugees they encounter daily, the needs for refugees entering into Ireland as well as planning for possible developments of the crisis into the future.

The Irish Red Cross has committed €5.7m to the crisis so far with the money being used for operational needs in Ukraine and on the border.

The Red Cross Humanitarian Services has been set up at various border points, providing tens of thousands of relief items such as food parcels, water, first aid kits and heating materials for people on the move and people trapped inside cities in Ukraine.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The Irish Red Cross has "planned its funding interventions" over a two-year period due to the fact that the crisis "has no defined end date".

It said the current period is the immediate emergency phase to which €10m is being allocated, the second phase is the beginning of a return to normality and reconstruction to which €4.5m is being allocated and the final phase focusing on the rebuilding of livelihoods to which €10m will be allocated.

All of this is dependent on the de-escalation of the conflict or its continuance or indeed expansion, said the Red Cross.

Irish Red Cross Secretary General Liam O’Dwyer said the response from the Irish public has been "very generous" with an "unbelievable amount of support given". He added that the needs of the Ukrainian people are growing by the day.

Accommodation 

Mr O'Dwyer said that so far, almost 23,000 locations that have been offered to house Ukrainian people have been checked out.

Millions have fled Ukraine due to the Russian invasion and the Government minister said this week that Ireland can expect to take in at least 68,000 people but that the number could hit 200,000.

"We have a big team effort providing assistance to finding accommodation for refugees and we are very grateful to the Defence Forces with their contact centres as well as Engineers Ireland and the Irish Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers for checking out the various accommodations being offered by the Irish Public of which there are close to 23,000."

For anyone who has pledged accommodation and is yet to be contacted, Mr O'Dwyer urged people to be patient, adding the process is underway.

"We are initially focusing on the vacant properties to move refugees into, this will take a few weeks and from there we will move onto the offers of shared accommodation," he said.

"Garda vetting is also required for many of the persons offering shared accommodation where minors or vulnerable people will go to with a guardian. The Irish Red Cross will be in touch in the next week or two in regard to the Garda vetting process."