People Who Take In Ukrainian Refugees Could Have Payments Doubled Under New Plans Approved By Government

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 10:36

By Caoimhe Harney

The Government also intends to clear pathways out of direct provision for those who are granted legal status.

Ministers have agreed on plans to ramp up the provision of accommodation for Ukrainian refugees after the Department of Integration confirmed last week that it could no longer guarantee State accommodation for those coming to Ireland as current facilities are at capacity.

On Monday evening, the Cabinet committee for Ukraine met to discuss ways by which accommodation options could be increased, agreeing to a number of measures aimed at urgently adding more capacity to the system.

The Government is to step up its plans to house more refugees from Ukraine.

A meeting of the Government sub-committee addressing the issue has drawn up a programme of initiatives to tackle the problem, there are currently 58,000 refugees in the Country compared to 7,250 this time last year.

People who take in Ukrainian refugees will see an increase to their monthly 400-euro allowance, under new government measures.

It's believed the payment could be doubled, while other measures include rapid build housing units.

Measures also include a new local-authority led call for vacant properties and holiday homes.

The Government will also accelerate work on all possible additional accommodation options such as emergency shelter, refurbished buildings and rapid-build housing units.

The Government also intends to clear pathways out of direct provision for those who are granted legal status.

The scenes of Ukrainian refugees sleeping on floors at Dublin Airport last weekend has forced the Government to draw up a new programme of measures to tackle the crisis.