Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 March 2023
267. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason payments have not issued to an accommodation centre housing Ukrainian refugees (details supplied) for the months of November, December, January and February; when these payments will issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10740/23]
View answerMy Department has engaged over 700 properties to provide accommodation for Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection. In line with the Department’s commitment to substantially clear the backlog at the end of 2022, I temporarily re-assigned staff from other parts of the Department in December, doubling the size of the payments unit. The enlarged team approved more than 100 million euros worth of payments.
My Department is prioritising maintaining a practice of more timely payments, including providing more resources to address any issues. Any delays in making payments are deeply regretted and my Department is according this issue very high priority.
I am advised by my officials as that payment in respect of Oct/Nov was made to this provider on 19th of January, 2023, while payment in respect of November (reconciliation) and December was made on 26th of January. Payments in respect of January and February are being processed and will be paid as soon as possible.
The delay in payment is due to the large volume of invoices being received by my Department. Additional resources have been assigned and the volume of payments is again steadily growing. My Department will continue to press on to eliminate the backlog while ensuring appropriate governance is in place to safeguard the proper spending of Exchequer funding.
