Extra 4,000 refugees due in Ireland before end of month as accommodation crisis persists

The Gormanston camp is set to provide a further 320 places from Monday in its tented complex. Picture: Government Information Services

Another 4,000 refugees are expected to arrive in Ireland before the end of the month, as Government ministers scramble to find homes for those families landing here.

While the Taoiseach and Tánaiste insisted there will be no cap placed on the numbers coming here, ministers have been warned the number of arrivals into Ireland will pass 45,000 before the end of the month, following a rise in arrivals in the past week.

In documents given to Cabinet ministers, seen by the Irish Examiner, 1,278 refugees arrived here in the past week with the seven-day average number of arrivals up to 183.

This increase in numbers is the cause of considerable concern within the Government amid frantic efforts to source accommodation and to prevent hundreds of incoming refugees having to sleep on the floor at Dublin Airport.

While Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the immediate priority of the Government is to reduce numbers at the Citywest Hotel, some people will be forced to spend more than one night at the airport in unsuitable conditions.

The briefing note confirms that there have been 41,103 arrivals up to the past week. This compares to 39,825 for the previous week.

“Over the last few days, there has been some volatility in the daily arrival numbers. The seven-day average sits at 183. This compares to 177 for the same time last week and 170 for the previous week,” ministers were warned.

“In terms of the arrivals scenarios forecasts run by the department, if the current trends continue, the estimate for the end of July will be around 45,000 arrivals since the start of the conflict,” the note adds.

The Government said:

• The Department of Housing has made an additional 500 units come on stream from its refurbishment scheme;
• Additional short-term student accommodation has also been made available;
• The Gormanston camp will provide a further 320 places from Monday in its tented complex;
• 500 modular homes will be delivered by November;
• A new reception centre is in the process of being procured to cope with the numbers coming into Ireland.

Speaking in Galway, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said there are no plans to cap the number of Ukrainian refugees arriving into the country, suggesting we are not yet taking in our fair share.

He said that Ireland has not taken as many displaced Ukrainians as other countries on a comparative basis and that, even with the system for receiving refugees now full, EU rules would not allow for limits to be placed.

"This is part of European law. So it's actually not in our authority, in any case, to limit the numbers that are coming from Ukraine," said Mr Varadkar. 

"And bear in mind, while we're struggling with 40,000 people who've come from Ukraine, Poland has 2m, Czech Republic 350,000, huge numbers in other countries too. So, you know, we're really taking our fair share, and maybe not even quite that, in truth.” 

Army camps

Mr Varadkar said that army camps other than Gormanston will be put into action and that the system for pledged accommodation was "too slow".

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government on Thursday agreed to increase capacity for reception centres for those seeking international protection and also to accommodate those coming in from Ukraine.

“It is very, very challenging given the scale of what is going on across Europe,” he said.

Volunteer groups, working with Ukrainian refugees, have called for a Nphet-style body to be established to lead the response.

Anatoliy Prymakov, volunteer with the Ukrainian Action group, said: “We do feel that it needs to be treated with a bit more urgency. It needs to be treated more like Covid, there needs to be a task force.”

He said it would play a similar role to how former chief medical officer Tony Holohan led the approach against Covid.

Fiona Hurley, the interim chief executive of Nasc in Cork City, also believes such a step is necessary.