Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2023
612. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if applicants for international protection or refugees from Ukraine, are being housed in social housing in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33771/23]
View answerIreland has responded to the largest displacement of people on the European continent since the Second World War. Since February 2022, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has worked extensively to accommodate over 88,000 arrivals fleeing the war in Ukraine, of which 64,000 have sought accommodation from this Department.
Overseeing provision of accommodation on this scale during this timeframe for all those who require it remains immensely challenging. Due to the urgent need to source accommodation, the Department has contracted in excess of 49,000 beds to accommodate Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) in more than 800 settings including hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, hostels, commercial self-catering accommodation and certain other repurposed settings.
DCDEIY work with LAs to ensure that social housing units are not contracted, however, in a small number of incidences, providers have offered social housing units without identifying same as social housing. In these instances, DCEDIY work with the LA in relocating BOTPS.
