Some Ukrainian refugees are being housed in a nursing home, as the number of those arriving into Ireland after fleeing the war continues to rise.
More than 42,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ireland since Russia’s invasion of the country on February 24th.
Last month, it emerged that the Government had run out of State accommodation for those seeking refuge, and it was in the process of seeking alternative arrangements.
In a statement, the Department of Children and Equality said it is currently using one nursing home to house Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary International Protection (BOTPs).
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It is a separate section to the other residents and is unused otherwise, a spokesman for the department said.
The spokesman did not answer questions about how many refugees were housed in the premises, or where the nursing home is located, citing “commercial sensitivity”.
However, the spokesman said the policy on the use of nursing homes is that BOTPs “must be accommodated separately from residents of the nursing home and must not displace any current nursing home residents”.
“The Department is also open to using closed nursing homes as accommodation for BOTPs and is currently engaging with owners of a small number former nursing homes. We do not have information on when these nursing homes closed,” the spokesman added.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) conducted an inspection in the nursing homes over a number of days, according to a briefing paper presented to the July board meeting, and obtained by The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.
“Preliminary findings indicate that there is no impact on the residents’ quality of life or safety or the running of the designated centre as a result of this arrangement,” the board was told.
Last week about 100 Ukrainian refugees were temporarily housed at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, where it is understood the refugees were put up on camp beds at the stadium for one week.
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said all the main sporting organisations in the State have been contacted about similar short-term accommodation options.
Other refugees have been temporarily housed in tents at the Gormanston military camp in Co Meath, where 60 Ukrainians were accommodated last week. The old Dublin Airport terminal was also being used for emergency accommodation, but that ceased last Thursday.
Religious buildings, modular homes and vacant properties are some of the other accommodation options being considered by Government.
