Modular homes for Ukrainians in Mahon won't be ready for another three or four months

Ukrainian Refugees putting down sleeping bags at Dublin Airport in Dublin. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

It could be another three months before modular homes are ready for Ukrainian refugees.

News of the wait came as senior Government figures repeated warnings yesterday that there is no longer a guarantee of immediate accommodation to those arriving here from war-torn Ukraine.

Against the backdrop of an accommodation crisis, the Government this week signed off on a raft of new measures as part of a renewed focus to find and provide accommodation for those arriving in Ireland from Ukraine, and for those seeking international protection.

They include a doubling in the monthly payment accommodation payment for those housing Ukrainian refugees to €800 and an expansion of its programme of modular house building.

An estimated 55,000 people have arrived here from Ukraine since February, 43,000 medical cards have been issued to Ukrainians, around 12,000 Ukrainian children have enrolled in schools, and some 42,000 people have been housed in State-run or funded accommodation.

The numbers are not expected to abate over the coming months.

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But the Irish Examiner has learned that one of the biggest proposed modular housing developments, a 64-home unit in Mahon on the southside of Cork City, which was announced in early October, won’t be ready for another three or possibly four months.

The Office of Public Works is expected to begin enabling works on the site near Mahon Point Shopping Centre next week, with a 12- to 15-week build period predicted.

It is expected that the homes will not be ready for occupation until late January or early February, at the earliest.

The site for the proposed modular housing units is near Mahon Point Shopping Centre. Picture: Denis Minihane

It is hoped the development, on a site off St Michael’s Drive, could house up to 250 Ukrainian refugees.

The development will include green spaces and a play area, and will accommodate primarily women and children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

It was one of three initial sites announced earlier this month by the Department of Children, Equality, Integration, Disability and Youth for modular housing developments.

A further 60 units are planned for Thurles and 30 more in Cavan town. They are not expected to be ready until early in 2023 either.

The department has insisted that the homes will be developed in an “environmentally sustainable way to ensure that the site will enhance the local area”.

The Mahon development will be part of the first phase of modular home development to deliver around 200 units. A further 300 units are planned for delivery in the second phase, which is now set to be fast-tracked.