Group calls for payment for hosting Ukrainian refugees to include all asylum seekers

Helping Irish Hosts and the Irish Red Cross urged the Government to pilot a programme to 'equalise the welcome' for those seeking international protection in Ireland. File picture: Arthur Carron/Collins Photos

The Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) which is currently paid to those hosting Ukrainian refugees should be expanded to encourage hosts to take in asylum seekers, a group representing hosts has said.

Helping Irish Hosts and the Irish Red Cross urged the Government to pilot a programme to “equalise the welcome” for those seeking international protection in Ireland.

The Helping Irish Hosts group said widening the ARP could be a step towards addressing the ongoing accommodation crisis for asylum seekers, adding that they are ready to draw on current frameworks to pilot the programme.

Helping Irish Hosts chief executive and co-founder Angie Gough said:

We know from our conversations with hosts that there is a strong will in this community to extend the welcome currently being shown to Ukrainians to all refugees.

Although most hosts accommodate Ukrainians out of solidarity and compassion, it said the ARP, which is currently paid at €800 per month, is a fundamental tool in facilitating and sustaining hosting as a viable option. It comes as 758 international protection applicants are currently without State-provided accommodation.

“We now recognise hosting as a key integration opportunity for people seeking refuge in Ireland. We are advocating for the changes needed to sustain the host response as a key aspect of the refugee accommodation solution,” Ms Gough said.

The group also recommended extending the incoming 90-day limit and developing a long-term plan rather than “short-term deterrence”. From early February, newly arrived Ukrainians will be offered 90 days in State accommodation before they have to find their own place to live.

Ms Gough said hosting alone cannot fill the gaps for vulnerable people with additional needs and “those who will be left homeless as a result of the proposed 90-day policy". 

“The concern is that this policy will put short-term deterrence over long-term planning which will have serious consequences for already vulnerable people,” she said.

The group noted that temporary protection for Ukrainians is due to end in March 2025 which it warned is “just around the corner”.

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The recommendations were made to TDs and Senators during a briefing at Leinster House to provide an overview of the current state of hosting, including its benefits and limitations.

They presented findings of a survey of over 1,400 hosts which found that 76% of participants’ main motivation to host Ukrainian refugees was solidarity while 27% said their main motivation to host was the ARP.

Latest figures show that 21,136 beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTP) are in hosting arrangements with 9,309 hosts in receipt of ARP costing over €7.4m per month.

However, Helping Irish Hosts estimates that hosting arrangements are saving the State €386m each year.

The survey also found that 92% of hosts have had a positive experience while more than half (53%) intend to extend their hosting arrangement for a year or more, while 14% are not planning on extending.