Calls for holiday homes and vacant buildings to be used by Ukrainian refugees

Ukrainian refugee Nikolaj sleeping on the floor at Dublin Airport in Dublin as they are looking for help. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

The Government has been criticised over a lack of planning and coordination between Departments on the provision of Ukrainian accommodation.

Members of the opposition have rounded on the Government claiming the bulk of responsibility has been placed on Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman.

Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane said holiday homes and large vacant buildings under the ownership of bodies such as the HSE now need to be used.

"There has been a lack of preparation or lack of planning and a lack of coordination between various Departments, I think Health, Housing the HSE all those agencies should be involved," he told RTÉ's The Week in Politics programme.

"I think the heavy lifting has been done by the Department of Children. We have a housing crisis for those fleeing war at the moment, but also domestically. And we had a Minister for Housing this week, who said he doesn't believe that there is a housing emergency. It's a catastrophe."

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said the centrality of the response is coming from the Department of Children.

"We're told that there is supposed to be in all of Government response, I don't see it. I don't see it in a whole lot of different ways, I think there's far too much being put on that one Department.

She added: "There's no doubt that the housing crisis is at the heart of all of this, and that hasn't emerged in the last two years, that's been an ongoing problem for many years and is not being resolved at the speed that it requires to be resolved."

However, Government chief whip Jack Chambers said the Departments of Health, Housing, Social Protection and the OPW have been working with the Department of Children in supporting those who arrive here from Ukraine.

"There's been an emergency response to a wartime situation and Ireland has played its role in responding to Putin's war and providing a humanitarian response."

He said rapid-build homes are now being scaled up and a new portal is being established for those who want to take Ukrainian refugees into their homes.

"I think it's important to reflect on the scale of the response compared to what we would absorb as a country in any given year, and I think they've provided emergency accommodation for the vast majority who have arrived and also the humanitarian response and other services for people and that's been recognised.

"If you speak to Ukrainian people who have arrived here, they acknowledge the very welcome and respectful response they've been given by many of the agencies."