This thread is going to be full of thoughtful points and reasoned debate.
[deleted]
**Article text:**
Scramble for beds as influx predicted to hit 180,000
A time limit on how long support will be offered to Ukrainian refugees is being considered by the government as efforts accelerate to tackle the growing refugee crisis.
Simon Harris, the justice minister, confirmed that the decision-making process on international protection applications is being speeded up to deport those from any foreign country found to be here illegally.
More than 640 deportation orders have been made since September, of which 128 have been served since the start of 2023.
The government is continuing to scramble to provide emergency beds for those arriving here, with fears that 180,000 people could be in the system by the end of the year. There are 54,000 Ukrainians and 20,000 asylum seekers in state accommodation.
Various options have been laid out in a document for ministers to consider as protests grow around Ireland, and far-right activists flood social media chat.
A document compiled by civil servants reports how the country compares with other EU nations in how it treats Ukrainians, amid fears in some parts of government that Ireland is being seen as a more attractive option.
“Research suggests reducing or limiting the scope of Ireland’s offering would more greatly align our position with the overall approach being taken in other member states,” the paper states.
Last year the Polish government announced it would charge Ukrainian refugees in accommodation centres after four months. In Lithuania, Ukrainians can apply for three months’ free accommodation.
Cabinet sources emphasised that no decision had been taken but in order to “incentivise” Ukrainian people to integrate further into Irish society, there will be an initiative to help asylum seekers into the workforce.
This would include measures such as language classes and time limits on state-provided supports for accommodation. Ukrainian refugees do not qualify for housing assistance payment (HAP) and senior ministers have balked at the idea of providing the benefit to Ukrainians, citing it as a potential draw that would encourage more refugees to come.
One minister noted that without some sort of rent subsidy, “they need fairly well paid jobs to be able to find somewhere” and that the idea of time-limited accommodation “might work for some but not most”. There has been no discussion yet about subsidising rent or a rental benefit for Ukrainians.
“This isn’t about turfing people out, it’s incentivising people to build regular normal lives,” one senior government source said. “There will always be emergency accommodation where it’s required, that’s always the goal. The government regrets it can’t provide for everyone.”
Those granted temporary residence under the Temporary Protection Directive are entitled to suitable accommodation or assistance to obtain housing; however, it is not specified what the accommodation may be.
“There is a need to move away from serviced accommodation such as hotels. It’s expensive and not good for the person,” another government source said. “We’re seeking to bring equity across services and the longer the war goes on, the better we need to integrate people.”
Just 30 per cent of hotel accommodation providers have signed a new contract with the state, a cabinet committee paper said last week, adding that there is a “risk of losing up to 8,000 beds” when providers return to catering for high-season tourists from next month.
A group of about 200 anti-migrant demonstrators gathered yesterday at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin before marching through the city centre, temporarily blocking traffic. The demonstration was organised by a new grassroots organisation calling itself Irish Communities Together.
A counter-demonstration of fewer than ten people was held across the road from the memorial gardens by activists who carried signs with slogans such as “Refugees are welcome here”.
Eoin Ó Broin, the Sinn Fein housing spokesman, said the government did not appear to have a plan to deal with the crisis.
“It’s been patently obvious since kind of halfway through last year that they weren’t really putting in place a serious plan. We had talk of some modular accommodation, it hasn’t been delivered to date,” he said. “We had talked about the conversion of large and vacant buildings for multifamily use. A list of 95 buildings was provided by the Department of Housing and virtually none of those have been refurbished.
“What I haven’t seen is a whole-of-government approach where various departments sit down at a very senior level.”
Ó Broin added: “The difficulty is that because the housing crisis is getting worse, and the homelessness crisis is getting worse, and the government was talking up its efforts with respect to Ukrainians and other people seeking international protection, that then created a kind of a misunderstanding and attention and that’s kind of undermined social cohesion a little bit. But actually the government is making exactly the same mess of tackling the temporary accommodation crisis for people seeking refuge in the same way as they’re making a mess of the homelessness crisis.”
Michael Moynihan, a Fianna Fail TD, has called for more assistance for Roderic O’Gorman, the minister for integration, who is said to be struggling. “I think Roderic needs more help from the entire government. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Moynihan said. “This will define us over the next 12 months. We cannot sacrifice the tourism industry, and refugees are now ammunition in Putin’s war. At the end of the day we need to be imaginative when it comes to solutions.”
Ivana Bacik, the Labour leader, also called for more support for O’Gorman. “I’ve called on government to appoint a minister with respect specifically for responsibility for housing of refugees and new communities,” she said.
Bacik demanded more resources and a clear information channel “for us as public representatives who want to show support and solidarity for the huge efforts to house refugees”. She flagged up that a small number of far-right activists “are exploiting the information vacuum to stir up fear and distrust among communities”.
The government has had some success with its renewed call for homes and other locations to be used by refugees. The Offer a Home scheme has had more than 1,000 offers of unoccupied properties since it was introduced two months ago.
However, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the junior finance minister, warned: “The reason that we need every single bit of accommodation that’s possible is to be able to meet the needs that are going to come from an escalated war in Ukraine. It is getting worse, not better.”
The government has rejected the notion that the chaos in immigration could threaten the common travel area.
Michael McDowell, the former tanaiste, warned that visa-free travel with Britain could be at risk due to “economic migrants”. He said: “If we want to keep the English border open for Irish people without checks, we must be careful we’re not being used as a back door.”
The International Protection Accommodation Service has been overrun in the past year. McDowell said: “They’re not handling applications for refugee status for people who are economic migrants quickly enough.” He added that 20 per cent of people were coming from Georgia, which is deemed to be a safe country.
In November the International Protection Office introduced an accelerated process for applicants from safe countries of origin. Such people receive their interview date on the day they apply.
Since that accelerated procedure began, more than 600 interviews have been scheduled for applicants coming from safe countries of origin and 400 interviews have taken place.
The easiest thing the government can do is… To not let 180k people in. It would at least give more time to solve actual problems.
Time limit is reasonable, so is charge after certain time.
Not providing HAP is reasonably for many reasons including encouraging of even more people coming in. Which would not be good.
But all this talk and talk. They need to actually do something major.
This was all so predictable. A massive policy failure. That’s all I have to say.
Hotels are paid €135 per night for the first qualified adult and €35 per night per child and €35 per night per additional adult in a room. This is paid by the government. Following a change of policy, hotels are now charging Ukrainians a mandatory €10 per night per adult and €5 per night per child as a ‘meals fee’. I’ve seen photos of the food. It’s awful – potatoes, lettuce ‘salad’, and either chicken nuggets or sausages. If you have a family of 1 mother and 2 children, that’s €225/day or €6,750/month. The government has increased private hosting charges to €800/month but you get the same amount no matter how many you accommodate, so there’s no incentive to take in more than one adult. If the government changed it to €800/adult and €400/child, it would be more attractive, but they would need to make it tax free (lodging tops out at €14,000/year). The cost of housing that mum and 2 child family would drop from €6,750/month to €1,600 – saving the government almost €5,000 and encouraging integration.
Asylum seekers need to be processed quickly and deported if necessary
6 comments
This thread is going to be full of thoughtful points and reasoned debate.
[deleted]
**Article text:**
Scramble for beds as influx predicted to hit 180,000
A time limit on how long support will be offered to Ukrainian refugees is being considered by the government as efforts accelerate to tackle the growing refugee crisis.
Simon Harris, the justice minister, confirmed that the decision-making process on international protection applications is being speeded up to deport those from any foreign country found to be here illegally.
More than 640 deportation orders have been made since September, of which 128 have been served since the start of 2023.
The government is continuing to scramble to provide emergency beds for those arriving here, with fears that 180,000 people could be in the system by the end of the year. There are 54,000 Ukrainians and 20,000 asylum seekers in state accommodation.
Various options have been laid out in a document for ministers to consider as protests grow around Ireland, and far-right activists flood social media chat.
A document compiled by civil servants reports how the country compares with other EU nations in how it treats Ukrainians, amid fears in some parts of government that Ireland is being seen as a more attractive option.
“Research suggests reducing or limiting the scope of Ireland’s offering would more greatly align our position with the overall approach being taken in other member states,” the paper states.
Last year the Polish government announced it would charge Ukrainian refugees in accommodation centres after four months. In Lithuania, Ukrainians can apply for three months’ free accommodation.
Cabinet sources emphasised that no decision had been taken but in order to “incentivise” Ukrainian people to integrate further into Irish society, there will be an initiative to help asylum seekers into the workforce.
This would include measures such as language classes and time limits on state-provided supports for accommodation. Ukrainian refugees do not qualify for housing assistance payment (HAP) and senior ministers have balked at the idea of providing the benefit to Ukrainians, citing it as a potential draw that would encourage more refugees to come.
One minister noted that without some sort of rent subsidy, “they need fairly well paid jobs to be able to find somewhere” and that the idea of time-limited accommodation “might work for some but not most”. There has been no discussion yet about subsidising rent or a rental benefit for Ukrainians.
“This isn’t about turfing people out, it’s incentivising people to build regular normal lives,” one senior government source said. “There will always be emergency accommodation where it’s required, that’s always the goal. The government regrets it can’t provide for everyone.”
Those granted temporary residence under the Temporary Protection Directive are entitled to suitable accommodation or assistance to obtain housing; however, it is not specified what the accommodation may be.
“There is a need to move away from serviced accommodation such as hotels. It’s expensive and not good for the person,” another government source said. “We’re seeking to bring equity across services and the longer the war goes on, the better we need to integrate people.”
Just 30 per cent of hotel accommodation providers have signed a new contract with the state, a cabinet committee paper said last week, adding that there is a “risk of losing up to 8,000 beds” when providers return to catering for high-season tourists from next month.
A group of about 200 anti-migrant demonstrators gathered yesterday at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin before marching through the city centre, temporarily blocking traffic. The demonstration was organised by a new grassroots organisation calling itself Irish Communities Together.
A counter-demonstration of fewer than ten people was held across the road from the memorial gardens by activists who carried signs with slogans such as “Refugees are welcome here”.
Eoin Ó Broin, the Sinn Fein housing spokesman, said the government did not appear to have a plan to deal with the crisis.
“It’s been patently obvious since kind of halfway through last year that they weren’t really putting in place a serious plan. We had talk of some modular accommodation, it hasn’t been delivered to date,” he said. “We had talked about the conversion of large and vacant buildings for multifamily use. A list of 95 buildings was provided by the Department of Housing and virtually none of those have been refurbished.
“What I haven’t seen is a whole-of-government approach where various departments sit down at a very senior level.”
Ó Broin added: “The difficulty is that because the housing crisis is getting worse, and the homelessness crisis is getting worse, and the government was talking up its efforts with respect to Ukrainians and other people seeking international protection, that then created a kind of a misunderstanding and attention and that’s kind of undermined social cohesion a little bit. But actually the government is making exactly the same mess of tackling the temporary accommodation crisis for people seeking refuge in the same way as they’re making a mess of the homelessness crisis.”
Michael Moynihan, a Fianna Fail TD, has called for more assistance for Roderic O’Gorman, the minister for integration, who is said to be struggling. “I think Roderic needs more help from the entire government. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Moynihan said. “This will define us over the next 12 months. We cannot sacrifice the tourism industry, and refugees are now ammunition in Putin’s war. At the end of the day we need to be imaginative when it comes to solutions.”
Ivana Bacik, the Labour leader, also called for more support for O’Gorman. “I’ve called on government to appoint a minister with respect specifically for responsibility for housing of refugees and new communities,” she said.
Bacik demanded more resources and a clear information channel “for us as public representatives who want to show support and solidarity for the huge efforts to house refugees”. She flagged up that a small number of far-right activists “are exploiting the information vacuum to stir up fear and distrust among communities”.
The government has had some success with its renewed call for homes and other locations to be used by refugees. The Offer a Home scheme has had more than 1,000 offers of unoccupied properties since it was introduced two months ago.
However, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the junior finance minister, warned: “The reason that we need every single bit of accommodation that’s possible is to be able to meet the needs that are going to come from an escalated war in Ukraine. It is getting worse, not better.”
The government has rejected the notion that the chaos in immigration could threaten the common travel area.
Michael McDowell, the former tanaiste, warned that visa-free travel with Britain could be at risk due to “economic migrants”. He said: “If we want to keep the English border open for Irish people without checks, we must be careful we’re not being used as a back door.”
The International Protection Accommodation Service has been overrun in the past year. McDowell said: “They’re not handling applications for refugee status for people who are economic migrants quickly enough.” He added that 20 per cent of people were coming from Georgia, which is deemed to be a safe country.
In November the International Protection Office introduced an accelerated process for applicants from safe countries of origin. Such people receive their interview date on the day they apply.
Since that accelerated procedure began, more than 600 interviews have been scheduled for applicants coming from safe countries of origin and 400 interviews have taken place.
The easiest thing the government can do is… To not let 180k people in. It would at least give more time to solve actual problems.
Time limit is reasonable, so is charge after certain time.
Not providing HAP is reasonably for many reasons including encouraging of even more people coming in. Which would not be good.
But all this talk and talk. They need to actually do something major.
This was all so predictable. A massive policy failure. That’s all I have to say.
Hotels are paid €135 per night for the first qualified adult and €35 per night per child and €35 per night per additional adult in a room. This is paid by the government. Following a change of policy, hotels are now charging Ukrainians a mandatory €10 per night per adult and €5 per night per child as a ‘meals fee’. I’ve seen photos of the food. It’s awful – potatoes, lettuce ‘salad’, and either chicken nuggets or sausages. If you have a family of 1 mother and 2 children, that’s €225/day or €6,750/month. The government has increased private hosting charges to €800/month but you get the same amount no matter how many you accommodate, so there’s no incentive to take in more than one adult. If the government changed it to €800/adult and €400/child, it would be more attractive, but they would need to make it tax free (lodging tops out at €14,000/year). The cost of housing that mum and 2 child family would drop from €6,750/month to €1,600 – saving the government almost €5,000 and encouraging integration.
Asylum seekers need to be processed quickly and deported if necessary