Government to look at use of Green Glens Arena for Ukrainian refugees should there be a ‘sudden surge’
'We’re continuing to look to book hotel accommodation to deal with short-term accommodation needs,' minister Roderic O'Gorman said on RTÉ radio today. File picture: Niall Carson/PA
The Government is looking at large-scale accommodation options in places such as the Green Glens Arena in Cork as short term accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.
Roderic O’Gorman said “in a crisis situation it is a possibility we have to plan for” should there be a “sudden surge of people arriving at our ports and airports".
“Somewhere like Green Glens and the National Show Centre [in north Co Dublin] would be a location where we could move people out of Dublin airport, give them food, provide them somewhere to rest in the short term while we’re looking for hotel accommodation for them.
“At the moment that would be the kind of circumstance in which those locations would be used for very short term stays,” the Minister for Children told RTÉ Radio One.
Mr O’Gorman said as of Friday evening, 9,000 Ukrainian refugees had arrived in the country and of those, 4,500 are being accommodated for in primarily hotels across the country.
“We don’t know [how many more are expected to come] just yet, but if you look at the ongoing magnitude of the crisis in Ukraine, Ireland and all European countries are going to expect to receive probably tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the weeks ahead and it’s certainly those numbers that we’re preparing for.
“We’re continuing to look to book hotel accommodation to deal with short-term accommodation needs and as of this weekend we have begun to draw down accommodation from the pledges provided by the Irish people.
“Over 20,000 offers have come in from Irish people across the country, a huge show of generosity and my department is looking to start to activate some of those accommodation options now, starting initially with options of vacant housing.”
In terms of block booking hotels, Mr O’Gorman said the Government is “certainly” looking at long-term block booking of hotel accommodation.
“I think that’s necessary to ensure that we have rooms for people when they arrive in the country and we’ve been doing that over the last few weeks.
“We’ve just got through Patrick’s weekend and obviously a lot of people had booked accommodation for the long weekend and it was tight at times over the last number of days but we got through that,” he said.
However, Mr O’Gorman emphasised that accommodation for refugees staying in hotels is a “short-term solution.”
“We know next week and the following week will be easier to secure hotel accommodation, but we’ve been very clear that this is being seen as part of the short-term solution to people arriving immediately in the country and there will be a range of medium and long term solutions brought forward by the Government over the next number of weeks.
There is not one single area in Ireland where Ukrainian people are being placed as currently they are going wherever there is hotel availability, Mr O’Gorman said.
There are 4,500 Ukrainian refugees currently accommodated in hotels across the country.
“Over the last few weeks we have been looking to locate people wherever we can find hotel accommodation and that has been all over the country — in towns, in cities, in rural areas and in urban areas.
“We’re looking to continue to grow the number of hotel rooms that we have, recognising the fact that we are likely to see increased numbers of people arrive in the days and weeks ahead.
The minister also added that the Defence Forces will be checking to see if accommodation people pledged through the Irish Red Cross is suitable for Ukrainian people to stay in.
“We’re engaging closely with the Defence Forces and the Defence Forces team is working with ourselves and the Red Cross in terms of activating the pledges that have been made and looking to do visits on locations to make sure accommodation is suitable for refugees when they move in.
“That’s the initial role they’re playing right now but as this situation continues, all government departments are working closely together to work out what the longer term accommodation options are.”
Initially, vacant properties that have been pledged will be provided to Ukrainian refugees. Then the Government will be exploring shared accommodation in people’s homes.
“We’re starting with use of vacant properties and we think of the 20,000 [pledges], perhaps 2,000 are fully vacant units, so we will start with them.
“A small number were drawn down this weekend and coming into next week we hope to significantly ramp up the drawdown of those vacant units, following on that we will be looking to drawdown on those offers of shared accommodation in people's homes.
“I think everybody sees the magnitude of the crisis that's going on in Ukraine and people across the country have really risen to this moment and are looking to do all that they can to give families shelter in a time of war.
“The Irish Government and indeed governments all over the European Union will be rising to this particular challenge and doing what’s necessary to ensure accommodation can be provided for Ukrainian refugees,” he said.
Ukrainian children will be able to avail themselves of the Irish education system while they are in Ireland as part of the temporary protection directive European countries are operating on.
“The department of education is working closely with other government departments as a part of the wider response under the temporary protection directive which is the legal framework all European countries are working on.
“Ukrainian children will have full access to our education system and in the weeks ahead we will be working to ensure that people will get more medium term accommodation and will have access to schools in the area.
“We will make available all necessary supports to ensure Ukrainian children are able to take part in the education system.”
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