Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February, and the invoking of the temporary protection Directive by the European Union shortly afterwards, the Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-governmental response to the Ukraine crisis.
The operational challenges brought about by responding to the conflict are significant. Our country has never experienced an influx of displaced persons like the one that we have seen over the past months.
My Department’s role is focused on the immediate, short-term accommodation needs of those who have fled here. To date, more than 41,000 people have arrived in Ireland and in excess of 31,000 of those have been referred to us seeking accommodation from the State.
The Department has contracted approximately 25,000 hotel rooms, with additional capacity also being pursued through all suitable means including, hotels, guest houses and B&Bs, religious properties, accommodation operated by voluntary bodies, and local authority emergency facilities. Given arrival numbers sourcing suitable accommodation continues to be a challenge.
The Government is committed to delivering a humanitarian response to welcome people seeking protection in Ireland as part of the European Union's overall response. The scale of response to this crisis has been unprecedented and Irish people have displayed an incredible level of generosity in their support and pledges of accommodation.
The Irish Red Cross has put in place a national pledge portal as one mechanism for channelling the offers of accommodation which many members of the public wish to provide. The website through which offers of accommodation are pledged is registerofpledges.redcross.ie. Over 25,000 offers of accommodation have been pledged by the Irish public through the Irish Red Cross (IRC). The scale of the response led to initial delays in establishing effective processes for contacting all those who pledged and giving effect to these pledges.
My Department understands that all those who pledged accommodation have been contacted by IRC or those working with them. Queries on pledges such as that raised by the Deputy will be followed up by my Department officials with the IRC.
My Department only receives pledges which it understands can be activated from IRC and passes these on to Local Implementing Partners to advance the placement of Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.
Implementing partners include Local Authorities, IRC, the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), and Peter McVerry Trust. Over 9,000 pledged properties have been notified to implementing partners. Approximately, 2300 beneficiaries have been matched to approximately 700 of these properties. The numbers continue to increase on a weekly basis.
Placement of people in need into pledged properties also occurs outside the pledged process.
The process of placing people in pledged accommodation does take time, but it is a complex process and needs to be done correctly for the safety and security of those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The Department is working to assist all implementing partners to assist in advancing this process to the greatest extent possible.
