ANY PROPOSED CHANGES to payments for people housing Ukrainian refugees must take into account that they significantly assist the provision of accommodation to “thousands” fleeing the war, the Integration Minister has said.
An ongoing review of a €800 payment to people who are housing temporary protection applicants from Ukraine was started after criticism of the plan suggested it was “unfair” to other renters in the housing market.
The payment scheme, known as the Accommodation Recognition Payment, was extended last year to allow Ukrainians to continue renting spare rooms and empty properties from members of the public. It was also doubled from €400.
Sinn Féin argued at the time that – as the country is facing a significant lack of available housing – those empty properties were best-suited for the private rental market and the spare rooms should be put towards university “digs” schemes.
Party TD Pearse Doherty brought up the issue again today during Leaders’ Questions, asking if the government would recognise that the scheme is unfair to those working “side-by-side” with temporary protection recipients.
The scheme was one of many measures the Government took to reduce its reliance on third-party accommodation, such as hotels, and increase the amount of accommodation available to the cohort of Ukrainian refugees arriving during 2022.
In April, the Irish Red Cross said it had accommodated 10,842 people in more than 4,700 homes. At the time, the charity was urging more homeowners to sign up to the scheme as supply for private housing was dwindling.
Doherty has claimed that now one in seven private rental properties in his home county of Donegal were not being put on the housing market as, according to the TD, landlords reckon they receive better revenue by leasing the home to those from Ukraine.
He told the Dáil: “The scheme, as you know Minister, provides €800 a month to pay for rent for Ukrainians regardless of whether they’re working and regardless of their income. The payment is tax free, and that means – to a landlord – that it is worth €1,600.
“Indeed in constituencies like mine, in Donegal, where the average rent is below €1,600, it is pricing other renters out of the market and reducing supply.
“That flies in the face of the commitment your government gave and assurances that said any measures to accommodate Ukrainians would not impact on housing supply,” he added.
Doherty said he and his party are now calling for the payments to be scrapped immediately for new recipients as he believes it is “unfair” that one cohort of society are able to avail of those supports and others are not.
Answering in the place of the Taoiseach today, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said that the payments are crucial so that the government fulfils its international obligations to house people seeking protection in the State.
He said that any changes to the payments must take into account that it may have a “very significant impact” on the number of people arriving to Ireland seeking private accommodation, as housing on State-owned land is still being prepared and procured.
O’Gorman highlighted that those seeking protection are entitled to social protection and that there are thousands of people in the country who are already reliant on such payments.
The Minister added:
“We’ve made significant changes to social protection entitlements for those in State-owned accommodation. They’re now only entitled to €38 per week, and that has had an impact as well.
“In terms of the [Accommodation] Recognition Payment, that has been hugely important to support the pledged accommodation and local accommodation scheme. It has allowed us to move away from complete reliance on hotel and guesthouse accommodation that we saw earlier in our response and allow Ukrainians integrate within communities.”
O’Gorman said the Government believes it was right to “align” the Accommodation Recognition Payment with the Temporary Protection Directive – allowing those fleeing the war in Ukraine to avail of protection upon arrival.
He added that that decision has made it so all schemes “walks lock-step” with the response of other EU member states. He said the ongoing review will only conclude whether to extend the scheme or alter the payments.
“It is really important to say, there are thousands of people supported by this payment now, Deputy.
“If we were to cut this payment, if we were to end it immediately, it is important that we understand the impact that it will have on Ukrainians that we are hosting as a country and I think that has to be borne in mind in terms of changes that this Government or any future Governments makes.”
Responding, Doherty said that the scheme has “nothing to do with the Temporary Protection Directive”, that it’s national legislation and the government has the power to alter or scrap the payments.
“We argued that existing Ukrainians should be supported, but it should not displace homes that should be available to the private rental sector. Your government voted against that in February and this is why we’re in a situation now where we’re seeing about a thousand additional homes come under this payment each month.”
Doherty added: “This is, fundamentally, an issue of fairness. Of course we see the compassion of Irish people, of course we needed to move when the war broke and support individuals – we’re two years on now.”
He put to the Minister, again, that the scheme was “unfair” to those seeking to enter the private rental sector and “displacing” properties from the market. He called for the scheme to be scrapped for new applicants.
O’Gorman reiterated the importance of the payment for those currently in receipt of it and of the State’s response to accommodate those seeking protection. He added that it was an “extremely important” part of the State accommodation offering.
“If we are to speak about removing that payment, we have to have an answer to how we continue to meet our legal obligations to our accommodation obligations to these people here legally.”
Later, in a separate debate, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the recent comments by Taoiseach Simon Harris in which he suggested the number of people seeking international protection in Ireland has compounded homeless figures were “not helpful”.
She added that it was also “not helpful” to hear opposition parties, like Sinn Féin, “buying into the same political rhetoric” and “appearing to scapegoat migrants”. She accused Doherty of “singling out” Ukrainians in his remarks to the Dáil.
O’Gorman clarified that he did not agree with the remarks made by Doherty during Leaders’ Questions. He added, as the Minister responsible for the issue, he is unsure how the scrapping of the payment would benefit those in need of accommodation.
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