Approach to housing Ukrainian refugees needs to change, says Varadkar

“We’re very much at capacity at the moment and we just don’t know whether we’d be in a position to provide accommodation, and all those additional supports for another 30,000 to 50,000 people if that number arrived over the course of the next year.”

“Based on current numbers, it wouldn’t be far off that” he noted.

He said there are now secondary movements, which means that Ukrainians who have been living for months in other parts of Europe are relocating to Ireland.

“It’s a long-standing issue with international protection, people who have been living safely in other parts of Western Europe for a period of time, then coming to Ireland and claiming asylum.”

“Some of that is linked to the fact that we have a better offering in Ireland than would be the case in Northern Ireland, or Britain or France or other countries that are not too far from us.”

Varadkar’s comment about Ireland being a more appealing place for refugees confirms a report from the Irish Times that stated that individuals within Cabinet were uncomfortable with the level of welfare being provided to Ukrainian refugees in comparison to other European countries.

He added that owing to the increase of refugees in Ireland, the Government needed to review Ireland’s offering to Ukrainian refugees and bring it in line with what is offered in other EU countries.

“When we look at those things, we have to adjust for the fact that the cost of living is higher in Ireland, that we have a very serious housing shortage that we don’t want to make worse.”

“It’s not that we’re just going to take the average of what’s done in other countries, we’re going to have to tailor it for the very real situation that we face here at the moment in this country,” he said.

The EU’s Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainian refugees  — which provides additional rights for refugees fleeing from Ukraine — is set to continue until 2025, at which point the decision will be made to extend or reform the system.

A proposed plan from Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman would see new arrivals from Ukraine offered accommodation from the Government for up to three months, and after that time has elapsed, they would then be expected to find accommodation through the private rental sector, or through the existing offer-a-home scheme.

Varadkar himself took a refugee from Ukraine into his home in 2022, housing a musician from Kyiv in his south inner-city home.

Statistics from the Central Statistics Office show that 97,000 refugees have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

Nearly 6 million Ukrainians have fled Ukraine since the war began, with 1.5 million of those taking refuge in Poland.