Alan Bailey of the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin has told of how the centre is providing meals and support services for Ukrainian refugees who have not yet found accommodation.
Mr Bailey told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show that a group of Ukrainian men and women aged between 18 and 40 had made their way to the centre over the weekend by public transport from Dublin Airport where they were sleeping.
The refugees had been extremely grateful for the welcome they had received in Ireland but had been traumatised by the war in their homeland. “I think they left feeling better.
“We’re here to help,” he said.
The Day Centre provides 250 breakfasts and 500 dinners every day. “They will be well fed. We will look after them.”
Liam O’Dwyer of the Red Cross told the same programme that some local authorities were slower than others in placing refugees in homes that had been pledged. While he was reluctant “to point the finger” the fact remained that there had been a slower response from some local authorities, while others had been “superb”.
To date 8,000 refugees had been placed in pledged accommodation, there had been a tremendous response from the Irish public, Mr O’Dwyer told Pat Kenny. However, some of the pledges had come from remote rural areas where it was difficult to place refugees as they needed access to schools and work.
Everything that could be vetted had been vetted, he added. A lot of people had not responded when the Red Cross made contact. “Anybody who applied has heard from the Red Cross”.
The procedure was that once a person was vetted their details were passed on the Department which then passed on details to the local authority, explained Mr O’Dwyer.
Earlier on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, the national coordinator of the Ukraine Civil Society Forum, Emma Lane-Spollen, called on the Government to deliver a plan to create the capacity for emergency accommodation in the short-term. That was the only solution, she said.
Ms Lane-Spollen said there was some frustration at the situation, as it had been foreseen a few months ago, but nothing had been done to alleviate it. The Cabinet meeting today would be important because the Taoiseach needed to make decisions now that will create accommodation to come onstream in six months' time.
A community-led response was needed, she urged, as local people were best placed to know where there were vacant properties. “Communities know where there are old convents and schools that can be renovated, and communities need to see some benefit from people coming into their communities”.
