It was inevitable that the Government’s generous open door to Ukrainian refugees would bring challenges to the country’s public services, nowhere more than in housing.
Some 34,800 Ukrainians, including 180 unaccompanied children, have arrived here since the end of February, with more than 25,000 seeking accommodation from the State. Almost 10,000 are staying with relatives or friends. The majority are in emergency accommodation, such as hotels or former religious institutions, or pledged accommodation. Coalition sources warned over the weekend that “the limits of supply to those already here are now being reached”.
And the Government says the lifting of Covid-19 travel restrictions has also seen a “significant increase” in people from many countries seeking international protection in Ireland. The Cabinet sub-committee overseeing the response to the war met on Monday and heard serious concerns about sourcing further accommodation.
Exacerbating the challenge of providing homes is the reality that only some 1,300 are so far lodged in accommodation pledged by the public – a fraction of the 20,000 promised lodgings. The complex process of Garda vetting, under which every member of a receiving household has to be cleared, is slow. So far only 3,700 vettings have been initiated by the Irish Red Cross (IRC), in respect of 6,500 of the households – some 533 so far approved. Many accommodation offers have been withdrawn.
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There are particular worries about what will unfold when student accommodation, in higher demand than ever, is no longer available to refugees at the end of the summer. IRC secretary general Liam O’Dwyer hopes to have up to 6,000 people in pledged accommodation by then.
That should contribute to easing the pinch which is projected in Government modelling, with a need for an additional 6,000 beds across all accommodation types, from hotels to emergency accommodation and pledged rooms, by the end of August. Increasing the take-up of hotel beds is not a solution. Pressure on the sector has already contributed to spiralling prices – 8,522, or 14 per cent, of the State’s 61,000 hotel rooms – about 5,100 for Ukrainian refugees – have effectively been taken out of a market normally reserved for tourists, business visitors and domestic staycationers.
Some 3,422 hotel rooms are also already being used to house asylum seekers from other countries who are in the direct provision system. Worryingly, 150 Ukrainian refugees have been placed in the direct provision system. And the entire reception system is coming under increasing strain, with reports that large numbers of asylum seekers from places other than Ukraine have been forced to sleep on the floor at a hotel in Dublin and on makeshift beds in conference rooms.