ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ARE to be allocated towards a new team that seeks to communicate better with local representatives and communities around the allocation of refugees.
The plan was agreed at Thursday’s sub Cabinet committee on Ukraine, with Cabinet set to sign off on a staffing and media budget this week.
Government sources said that there will be extra money allocated and designated people in local areas.
While the additional funding needed and reassignment of staff is “not huge in the greater scheme of things”, sources said the new team is needed.
As reported by The Journal last week, a senior officials group had begun drafting a communications plan to deal with the timing of the release of information safely to communities and local representatives.
The new communications plan is hoped to prevent future protests about the housing of refugees by providing more clarity to local areas and local politicians.
TDs at the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week told the Secretary General of the Department of Integration that there was a lack of communication with communities about plans which, as a result, was eroding trust between elected representatives and the public.
It is understood the new framework will utilise local networks, family resource centres and all other community groups at micro local, regional and national level.
The new plan is to “enhance” rather than to streamline the current systems of informing communities when refugees are due to arrive in a region, said another source, who added that the Department of Integration is very aware that improvements need to be made.
They added that there is a need to “get ahead” of some of the news, in terms of informing local politicians.
While they said the new group will be relatively small, it is hoped it will improve communications between the department and those on the ground by giving adequate information ahead of time.
Difficulties may still arise due to the fast pace of the refugee accommodation crisis. It is understood that the department is reluctant to inform communities and local representatives about a certain building being used in a locality until the contract is signed.
There have been cases where it is expected that a facility will be used, only for it to fall through at the last minute, which presents other issues around transparent and clear information.
The Secretary General, Kevin McCarthy has said 60 centres for international protection applicants had been opened since 1 January last year, as had over 700 centres for Ukraine refugee accommodation.
“In all of those, for the most part, communities have been welcoming and supportive. There has been a relatively small number but an increasing number, and an increasingly recent prevalence, of resistance to what is happening. We are very well aware of that. We are very well aware of the need to get clear information out to public representatives in those areas on time,” he said last week.
A memo from the Department of An Taoiseach will seek approval for the additional resourcing of the communications team at Cabinet this week.
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