Harris and Zelenskyy to discuss cut in financial supports for Ukrainian refugees

Taoiseach said scaled-back payment of €38.80 would only apply to those with free accommodation and free meals

Taoiseach Simon Harris shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. 

The cut in financial support to Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland is to be discussed by the Taoiseach and the Ukrainian prime minister in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Mr Zelenskyy made the comment after he and Simon Harris signed an Agreement on Support and Cooperation between Ireland and Ukraine outside the presidential palace in Kyiv on Wednesday.

The agreement aims to support Ukraine’s EU membership and to support continued humanitarian assistance. Mr Harris also announced a €36m humanitarian funding package for Ukraine.

Mr Harris vowed in Kyiv that Ireland and Europe would never allow the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine to be normalised or forgotten.

“Ireland will always stand with Ukraine. Europe will always stand with Ukraine," he said.

And Ireland will never allow the “brutal Russian aggression” against Ukraine to fade from people’s memories, Mr Harris said.

“Children were murdered, likely in their beds last night,” Mr Harris said, commenting on a deadly strike on the western city of Lviv early on Wednesday morning.

The hypersonic missiles and drone attacks killed seven people close to the time that the Taoiseach was passing through the city.

A mother and her three daughters were among the victims.

Taoiseach Simon Harris at the memorial in Maidan Nezalezhnosti square during his visit to Ukraine. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The attack came after Russia's deadliest single attack on Ukraine this year which killed 53 people in a strike on a military institute in the central city of Poltava this week.

Explosions were also heard on Wednesday over Kyiv as air defences targeted Russian missiles.

Mr Harris said he had visited a couple whose house was destroyed by Russian attacks early in the war outside Kyiv, which not only took their home but a lifetime of memories from them.

But Irish aid had paid to build a new home for them and to give them some hope.

At a visit to the Children’s Rights Protection Centre in Kyiv, Mr Harris said he learned how children were being impacted by the war, including suffering and witnessing physical and psychological torture.

“This is a war of real pain, real agony and real brutality,” he said.

But Ireland would stand with Ukraine and its shared values of freedom and democracy, he said.

Mr Harris said he hoped Ukrainians would never need to apply for visas in Ireland, even after the current Temporary Protection Directive ends, as he hopes Ukrainians will be EU members.

Mr Harris said some 109,000 Ukrainians had come to Ireland, which was 2% of Ireland’s population.

“We will always keep social welfare under review,” he said, referencing the recent social welfare cutbacks to Ukrainian refugees. However, he added the scaled-back payments would only apply to those with free accommodation and free meals.

Taoiseach Simon Harris and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Ukrainians who register for temporary protection and State accommodation from March would only be accommodated there for a maximum of 90 days.

And weekly payments would drop for all Ukrainian refugees in State accommodation centres to €38.80 for an adult and €29.80 for a child from September 9. Those not in State accommodation can apply for social welfare benefits like Irish citizens.

Mr Harris said he was “very conscious” Ireland was only supplying Ukraine with non-lethal supports when asked if he would support supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles to target Russia.

Mr Zelenskyy said using long-range missiles would save lives in Ukraine.

“We need the permission to use long-range missiles,” but permission for these depends on coalition partners, Mr Zelenskyy said.

The US, United Kingdom, France and Germany were the only countries capable of supplying them with the long-range missiles needed, he said.

But Ireland is now providing vital funding to de-mine Ukraine and to fight cyber threats, Mr Zelenskyy said.

Ireland is also helping Ukraine to “bring back deported Ukrainian children” who were the victims of “Russian war crimes”. 

Mr Zelenskyy said he hoped Ireland would play a “substantial role” in the reconstruction of Ukraine after fighting has ended.