Sinn Féin demands Government clarification on Ukrainian Accommodation Recognition Payment

Matt Carthy is calling for the scheme to be closed to new entrants, means-testing those who benefit from the scheme, and banning the practice of 'top-up' payments to the ARP. File photo: SAM BOAL/Collins Photos

Sinn Féin is demanding the Government clarify whether the Ukrainian Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) will be amended or simply extended.

The Government has presented a motion to extend the scheme until March 2026 but does not indicate whether any changes will be made.

It is understood that the €800 tax-free monthly payment will be reduced to €600 when the scheme is extended but Sinn Féin's spokesperson on migration Matt Carthy has called for further changes to be made.

Mr Carthy is calling for the scheme to be closed to new entrants, means-testing those who benefit from the scheme, and banning the practice of 'top-up' payments to the ARP.

As the Government winds down private provider contracts, closing the ARP to new entrants would mean those exiting hotels and other accommodation would likely turn to the already under pressure private rental market.

The Cavan-Monaghan TD said the ARP "is increasingly benefiting landlords in the private rented sector availing of the ARP because it is financially advantageous to them compared to renting to other potential tenants".

National coordinator of the Ukraine Ireland Civil Society Forum, Emma Lane-Spollen said Mr Carthy is locating the problems within the rental sector in the wrong space.

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"We need to look at where the problems are and really locate them in the right places instead of this kind of distraction that is in danger of actually exacerbating the problem," said Ms Lane-Spollen.

A recent survey undertaken by Red Cross Ireland found that 91% of hosts were not previously RTB-registered landlords.

Rather than taking measures that would penalise all hosts, Ms Lane-Spollen said an alternative option would be to state that a property that has been registered on the PRTB in the previous six months is not eligible for the scheme.

The Government motion is not listed for Dáil business when it sits for two days next week following the bank holiday weekend so it is likely to be heard the following week just ahead of the current March 31 expiry date.

Mr Carthy said this would not allow sufficient time for scrutiny, saying: "There is no other area where you would spend this amount of money and have so little oversight on it."