Minister cannot rule out Ukrainian refugees having to sleep on the streets

An Irish government minister has said he cannot guarantee that some Ukrainian refugees will not have to sleep on the streets.

He was speaking after his department said on Thursday night that the Citywest transit centre had reached capacity amid a severe constraint on suitable accommodation.

A group representing NGOs said that pregnant women and the elderly were sleeping on chairs and on the floor at the overcrowded Citywest facility.

Sinn Fein criticised the government for being “far too slow” to respond to the demand for accommodation and said it was another reflection of its “failure” on housing.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said it is an “incredibly difficult” situation that needs a whole of government approach, and that the issue would be discussed by ministers on Monday.

“What we are making clear is we’re not in a position to guarantee everyone an offer of accommodation,” Minister for Equality and Integration Roderic O’Gorman said on RTE’s Morning Ireland programme.

“So what we will do is we will prioritise vulnerable people, we will prioritise women and children in terms of the provision of accommodation.”

When asked whether there was a danger that people would have to sleep on the streets, Mr O’Gorman said: “I can’t rule that out.

“That’s why we’re speaking very clearly today and engaging with the Ukrainian embassy in terms of letting people know that there is a major constraint on capacity, particularly next week.

“That’s why we’re letting people know that if they have an option – if they’re in another EU member state – to either stay there or look to other EU member states, that we can’t guarantee State-provided accommodation into next week.”

He said that from Monday there will be an overnight facility in Dublin Airport where refugees would stay if arriving into Ireland on a late flight before being transferred to Citywest the next day.

The Government warned in July that it was facing a “severe shortage” of accommodation for arriving Ukrainians, which resulted in asylum seekers having to stay in a Dublin Airport terminal overnight.

Ukrainian refugees were temporarily living in tents at the Gormanston military camp in Co Meath as other accommodation was sourced.

“Gormanston doesn’t remain open any more,” Mr O’Gorman said on Friday. “There are currently 300 people in tented accommodation across the country of the 50,000 that we’re accommodating.

“So there is a small number of people in tented accommodation, but it is a small proportion – about half a percent – of the overall number.”

Speaking to reporters in Lusk, Dublin, Mr O’Brien said: “We’ve had 50,000 of our friends from Ukraine come here and we’ve a lot of other people seeking international protection. We want to look after them all and up to now we’ve managed to be able to do that,” he said.

“Look at what’s happening in Ukraine right now. You have a dictator in Russia who is actually bombing civilian infrastructure, who has taken out 30% of the electricity generation in that country, who is threatening to bomb other infrastructure such as dams.

“So we could very well have a situation where unfortunately this war is getting worse.”

The Cabinet sub-committee on Ukraine is to meet on Monday, chaired by the Taoiseach Micheal Martin, to discuss the accommodation crisis.

He added that at next week’s meeting Government will try to do “everything we can to alleviate the situation”, which includes being faster at refurbishing older State properties.

“We will look at other options we can potentially do to help, but it’s an incredibly difficult situation – no less so for the people who are fleeing this awful war in Ukraine, but we’re not the only country in Europe.

“There’s been pressures right across the European system with regard to keeping up pace of accommodation for those seeking international protection and for those fleeing the brutal war in Ukraine.”

Speaking at St Patrick’s Centre on a visit to Downpatrick, Co Down, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said “this was entirely predictable and foreseeable”.

“The government had predicted huge numbers of refugees coming from Ukraine – in fact greater numbers than transpired thus far – and they’ve failed to prepare. It’s as simple as that.

“The Irish Refugee Council presented a plan in respect of holiday homes, there are 60,000 of them across the State, and the government failed to act on that plan, for example.

“They’ve been far too slow, far too slow and too disjointed in accessing vacant buildings and making those liveable and available for people.

“I have to say that this is just another reflect of their more general failure in terms of housing policy and providing shelter and safe accommodation for our citizens.”

Of the more than 58,000 refugees or asylum seekers Ireland is housing, around 42,000 are Ukrainian nationals and 16,000 are international protection applicants.

This figure compares with 7,250 at the same time last year.

The Department warned last night that “access to suitable accommodation is severely constrained”, and said that it had briefed the Ukrainian embassy on developments.

Mr O’Gorman said he had been speaking to his Scottish counterpart Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Neil Gray, on Thursday about the continued invasion of Ukraine.

“I think we all, and most European countries, understand that there will be a significant number of Ukrainian citizens living with us into the medium term.”

The government is also considering whether to charge rent to refugees who have been granted full status and who are working full time, if they are still staying in direct provision centres.

The Ukraine Civil Society Forum (UCSF) expressed “grave concern” over Mr O’Gorman’s admission that some Ukrainian refugees could have to sleep on the streets.

The forum, which represents 60 Irish NGOs active in supporting Ireland’s emergency response to Ukrainian refugees, said this runs the “very real risk” that new arrivals will be left homeless.

UCSF national co-ordinator Emma Lane-Spollen said: “The Government has finally recognised the severe capacity issues at the Citywest Transit Centre that have led to significant overcrowding and safety issues.”

She said that on Thursday there were 1,050 people in the facility, which is designed for 300, sleeping on chairs and on the floor including pregnant women, young children and the elderly.

Ms Lane-Spollen said: “The UCSF is deeply worried that a tragedy, like the death of a baby in an overflow centre in the Netherlands which sparked questions about the conditions in the centre and availability of medical care, could occur here.”

She said people arriving in Ireland from Ukraine may have “nowhere to go”.

“The Government informs us that this situation may last 10 days,” she said.

“For now we are told women and children will be accommodated but for how long can they do this with the current approach?

“This crisis is not going to ease up. The war in Ukraine is not abating, winter is coming and 30% of Ukraine is without electricity. The increase in arrivals is not unexpected.

“What is worrying is that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability and Youth had raised this likely scenario with the Senior Officials Group weeks ago, and yet here we are.”

The forum has called on the Government to make some “urgent big decisions” and change its approach from crisis management to medium-long term planning, “or else face having to say there is ‘no room at the inn’ for new arrivals in the run-up to Christmas”.