Ciara Phelan: Government to reduce housing support for refugees as election looms

Proposal to offer Ukrainians three months in State-provided accommodation before they must find their own home

Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations at Fitzgerald's Park, Cork. Ireland is an outlier in terms of the accommodation and social welfare support offered to those fleeing Russia’s brutal war. Picture: Jim Coughlan

The next few months will be pivotal for the Government as it begins to make changes to how the State supports people who are fleeing war.

Ireland has been praised, both here and abroad, for its response to the humanitarian crisis that ensued after Russia invaded Ukraine almost two years ago.

Leaders from across the globe have applauded the Irish public who have opened their homes and a small nation that has provided shelter to almost 100,000 Ukrainians.

However, how the State supports Ukrainians is about to change.

The Irish Examiner has learned that Government officials are working on a proposal that will see newly arrived Ukrainians being offered three months in State-provided accommodation before they must find their own home in the rental sector or through the offer-a-home scheme. 

The scheme sees landlords with second properties, such as a holiday home, offer the use of their house to the State, with a monthly payment of €800 from the Government.

Currently, the majority of Ukrainians are being accommodated in hotels, B&Bs, and hostels across the country, with the annual cost coming in at around €1.5bn a year to the taxpayer.

The EU has decided to extend the temporary protection directive given to Ukrainians until March 2025 and many governments, including our own, are starting to realise that long-term solutions for housing Ukrainians are required. 

Ireland is an outlier in terms of the accommodation and social welfare support that is being offered to those fleeing Russia’s brutal war. 

Publicly, the Government will say the upcoming change in policy is to encourage Ukrainians to integrate into society quickly. 

However, indications also suggest this may be a tactic by the Government to try and discourage more Ukrainians from seeking accommodation in Ireland as officials continue to struggle on a weekly basis to find adequate accommodation.

The restriction placed on the period of time a person can stay in a hotel is to “bring Ireland’s offering in line with other EU countries", a Government source has said.

A number of EU countries offer a maximum stay of between 90 and 180 days in state-funded accommodation; thereafter, payment is required. 

The latest expected policy change by the Government appears to be hardening its approach. 

'Not sustainable'

At a recent Cabinet committee meeting on Ukraine, it was also said that the level of people seeking international protection here has shown “no signs of abating” and the number of people being supported is “simply not sustainable into the future”. 

However, a particular sentence in papers prepared for the meeting stood out and gave an indication of the worry those in Government may also have.

“It is also critical that we determine what is meant by medium and long term [accommodation] as this has direct implications for housing generally.” 

The Coalition continues to struggle to get a grasp on homelessness figures which are at an all-time high. 

The arrival of asylum seekers and Ukrainians may cause these numbers to inflate further, something the Government wants to avoid as it gears up for a general election next year.