Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 March 2023
293. Deputy Richard O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when payments will be made to businesses that are housing Ukrainians and have not yet received payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12118/23]
View answerSince the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive immediately afterwards, more than 76,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Ukraine and have sought refuge here in Ireland. Approximately 56,000 of those are being provided with accommodation from the State.
Overseeing provision of accommodation and associated processes on this scale during this timeframe for all those who require it remains immensely challenging. With over 750 contractors paid monthly, the payments process is an operation of considerable scale. Since the outset of the crisis to date, my Department has made 4,600 payments to a value of over €600 million. In 2023 to date approximately 760 payments have been made to a value of €133 million.
Delays are being experienced in processing invoices due to the volume involved and the need to carry out checks on each before payment can be made. Any delays in processing payments are deeply regretted and those in financial hardship are being prioritised and a process exists for identifying these providers.
My Department has been proactive in its efforts to address the payment challenges and has undertaken a number of initiatives in response. In addition to once again reassigning staff from other areas of the Department to work on payments processing, I have outsourced elements of the process to increase the capacity and speed of the system. POBAL agency staff are answering telephone calls from providers with queries on their invoices and improving communications more generally. Having considered a number of providers we have also recently outsourced certain accounting, audit and financial advisory services to a company with experience and capacity to assist.
My Department has also availed of the services of a business optimisation consultant to identify and other measures we can take to increase efficiency.
I am committed to ensuring that invoices are honoured in a timely fashion while also ensuring that appropriate scrutiny of invoices in performed to prevent erroneous invoicing and processing and to ensure that appropriate accounting procedures are followed.
My Department will continue to dedicate internal resources in the short-term and the Department continues to prioritise older invoices with a view to clearing any backlog in the coming weeks.
