Ireland will remain open to people fleeing the war in Ukraine, but there is no longer a guarantee of immediate accommodation, the Minister for Public Expediture has said.
As the Irish Examiner reports, Michael McGrath said the system is clearly under strain and the Government has to be honest with those arriving here seeking safety and sanctuary that there is a shortage of suitable accommodation.
“We have international obligations that we've signed up to at an EU level, and we will fulfil our obligations and there won't be any declaration that Ireland is closed to Ukrainians. That's not going to happen,” Mr McGrath said.
“But we do also have to be honest with people who are considering coming to Ireland, that there is not a guarantee of immediate accommodation, and that the system is under strain.
“A number of people in recent days have not been accommodated in a way that we would like and we acknowledge that and so we have to be forthright and honest with the Ukrainian government, with the ambassador, with people who are considering coming here, that they are coming to Ireland at a time when there is strain.”
But he said the €400 accommodation payment and the accommodation pledge system are both set for review at a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on the Ukrainian accommodation crisis issue on Monday afternoon.
Speaking in Cork, Mr McGrath said an estimated 55,000 people have arrived here from Ukraine since February, that 43,000 medical cards have been issued to Ukrainians, that around 12,000 Ukrainian children have enrolled in schools, and that some 42,000 people have been housed in state-run or funded accommodation.
The cost of the State response to the Ukraine crisis for the year has been estimated at around €1 billion, he said.
He acknowledged the current pressures and strains, but he said it was important to understand the overall context.
“There are about 7.7 million Ukrainian refugees in Europe according to the UNHCR,” he said.
“This is the single largest mass movement of people since World War II, and it isn’t just Ireland that is under pressure — many of our European neighbours are under pressure as well."
