Total cost of accommodating Ukrainian refugees to hit €1bn 

39 Ukrainian refugees arriving in Kerry on Wednesday. Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan

Ireland is set to spend in excess of €1bn on the fallout from the Russia's war in Ukraine in 2023, the Public Accounts Committee has heard.

At Thursday morning’s session with the Department of Integration, which has responsibility for Ireland’s international protection system, the PAC heard some €593m has been spent to date on the Ukrainian war, with €448m projected to be spent on accommodation costs before the end of 2022.

Kevin McCarthy, secretary-general of the department, told the committee that overall Ukraine expenditure is set to rise by “significantly more” next year due to the ongoing influx of Ukrainian people fleeing the conflict, and could “potentially” top €1bn, but added any estimates would come with “very strong health warnings”.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general said his department has commissioned a report regarding the rise in numbers seeking international protection in Ireland, with the influx of non-Ukrainian migrants currently more than three times the average of recent years.

Mr McCarthy said that some 11,000 applicants have entered Ireland to date under that scheme, against the department’s own prediction of 4,500.

“We’ve commissioned a piece of work to try to understand it,” he said of the rapidly increasing numbers, which currently stand at 60 migrants entering the country on a daily basis.

Heightened levels of migration

Mr McCarthy said the department was most interested to see whether the current heightened levels of migration are set to be a sustained trend or a one-off.

He said the research to date has been “slightly inconclusive”.

“We’re an English-speaking country in the EU, so we’re attractive from that point of view,” he said.

We would have expected some catch-up due to Covid restrictions being relaxed, but not obviously anything like we’ve seen.”

Asked by Fianna Fail’s James O’Connor whether or not he had “concerns” about the sustainability of the “direction of travel” given 260 people seeking protection, including Ukrainians, are entering Ireland each day, Mr McCarthy said: “We have international obligations, it’s our job to meet the needs of these people upon arrival.” 

It emerged at committee that the average cost for accommodating an asylum seeker each day in Ireland is just under €70 per night. Some €35m, meanwhile, has been spent on modular housing to help ease the crisis to date, with a further €36m given to local authorities to aid their attempts to manage the problem.

The 11,000 international protection applicants arriving in Ireland thus far in 2022 brings the overall total number of asylum-seekers currently living in Ireland to 16,000. 

'Very significant challenge'

That, in addition to the 43,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war brings the total number of people accessing accommodation provided by the State to “well over 50,000”, Mr McCarthy said, adding the numbers represent “a very significant challenge”.

Regarding the figure of 200,000 Ukrainian refugees which was posited by Government at the beginning of the crisis, Mr McCarthy said he didn’t know “what the genesis of” that figure was.

“It was finger in the air because people didn’t know how long the war was going to last,” he said.

He said the system was currently “operating at capacity on an ongoing basis” adding that the State “isn’t in a position to be fussy” regarding the kind of accommodation it offers.

“If an offer of accommodation matches our needs and standards then we’ll take it,” he said.