Ambassador tells Ukrainians Irish Government cannot guarantee them accommodation

Ukraine's Ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko. File Picture: Damien Storan/PA Wire

Ukraine's Ambassador to Ireland has said that people fleeing the war in Ukraine are being told that the Irish Government cannot guarantee accommodation for them.

Larysa Gerasko has said that she has asked Ukrainians planning to come to Ireland to consider going elsewhere.

"We shared on Ukrainian media and our social media the information that the Irish Government cannot guarantee accommodation for Ukrainians becuase of lack or abscence such accommodation," she told RTÉ News.

Speaking at an event at the Tiglin Center in Greystones, Co Wicklow, Ms Gerasko thanked communities across the country for welcoming and embracing the Ukrainian people arriving here, and for providing them with accommodation under such "horrible circumstances."

While in Wicklow, Ms Gerasko met and spoke with some of the 109 Ukrainians currently living at the Tiglin Center.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Irish Government agreed that refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine are to be offered "accommodation only" and will have to pay for their food and day-to-day expenses out of their welfare payments going forward.

The move is part of a Government plan to reassess how housing is being assigned to Ukrainians seeking asylum here.

The Government is also seeking to speed up the movement of Ukrainian refugees out of hotels and into more community-based accommodation.

However, there has been difficulty in getting some of those who fled the Russian invasion to agree to relocated as they are reluctant to be moved out of towns and cities.

The Irish Examiner understands that refugees will not be made a second offer of suitable accommodation if the first offer is declined, though how this plan will work in detail has yet to be decided.