Minister defends Government's plans to withdraw State accommodation for Ukrainians

Vivienne Clarke

Minister of State for Migration, Colm Brophy, has defended the Government’s plans to withdraw tourist and commercial accommodation, which is currently housing up to 16,000 people from Ukraine.

The move comes after the Government cut the length of time newly-arriving Ukrainian refugees can stay in State accommodation from 90 days to 30.

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan received agreement on the proposals at a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on Monday evening ahead of Cabinet on Tuesday.

It is understood that the proposals will withdraw State-contracted, commercial accommodation for Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Ireland before March 2024.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast and RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Minister Brophy said that the Cabinet was looking at putting in place “a sustainable transition from what was something that was introduced at the start of the war, which was temporary protection.

“And temporary protection, as its name implies, is temporary in nature. We want to recognise how we can best put in place the structures to deal with this on a sustained basis in the future.”

The Government’s plans were in line with those of the Ukrainian government, which had been clear “from day one” that they wanted their citizens to be able to return home.

“They're looking at pilot programmes which we would like to be involved in to help Ukrainians return, even when the war is still going on. And by the way, 1.2 million Ukrainians have already returned from Europe to Ukraine.

“What we're actually looking at is moving away, and we believe this is correct, from commercial providers of accommodation to enabling a situation where Ukrainians are providing their own accommodation.”

It was important to bear in mind, he said, that 50 per cent of Ukrainians, where their accommodation had closed down, did not take up the offer of free accommodation.

“They actually move into their own accommodation and they want to. And most importantly, we'll still be providing the 30 days for Ukrainians arriving into the country, but believe it or not, 22 per cent only availed of that even 30 days when they arrived in the last month.

“So we're seeing quite clearly, Ukrainians are very resilient people, they want to come here, and when they want to come here and they're choosing to come to Ireland, by the way, in very large numbers compared to other European countries, they want to actually participate and be involved.”

The Government was going to work to ensure there was a programme in place for people moving out of state provided accommodation. It would be a “sustainable transition” it would not be a “cliff edge” situation.

Vulnerable Ukrainians would continue to be supported by the state. “Vulnerable people will not be left alone.”

It was important that there be equality across the board in terms of how the state was accommodating people. “What we are doing is we're ensuring that there's an equal access to the market for everybody, and what we believe is that it is possible to do that.

"We're trying to actually build long-term paths for Ukrainian people to remain, if they want so, as part of Ireland and Irish communities, and we're also trying to facilitate for those Ukrainians who want to go home, the option to do that, and we're also trying to ensure we're protecting the vulnerability.

"That's not destruction, that's actually enhancing the integration of Ukrainians with Ireland.”