No drop off in arrivals from Ukraine yet
THE Government’s attempt to discourage Ukrainians from coming to Ireland has had no success yet as more than 500 arrived in the last week of the year.
Over 600 Ukrainians arrived in Ireland in the second week of December, when dramatic changes to the welfare and accommodation to be offered were announced.
Yesterday, in the first Cabinet meeting of 2024, ministers gave approval for a Bill needed to give effect to the changes. Under the new rules, welfare entitlement for Ukrainians in S tate accommodation falls from €232 a week to €38.80 and they can stay in State accommodation for just 90 days.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said Ireland cannot turn its back on Ukrainian refugees, saying that Ireland is ‘not full’.
‘We cannot isolate, shut our country off, say we’re not going to play our part in providing refuge where refuge is needed,’ he said.
But currently 512 asylum seekers have been left homeless as the State could not offer them accommodation when they arrived in recent weeks.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said last night: ‘We do expect to see a certain reduction coming to Ireland from Ukraine but it’s impossible to predict how many that will be.’
Asked if he would be disappointed if the numbers did not fall, Mr Varadkar said: ‘It depends on the circumstances. It’s our expectation that because we’ve brought what we offer more into line with what was the case in other Western European countries that the numbers coming in will fall.’
Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman outlined previously that the Government would start a ‘very clear communications campaign’ to inform Ukrainians about the changes ‘even before people arrive in Ireland’.
But Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said that it ‘beggars belief’ that the Government have not begun the full information campaign at a time of record homelessness. She said: ‘The Government needs to make sure this information is provided to people as soon as possible.’
The changes were announced in the second week of December when 603 Ukrainians arrived.
The week leading up to Christmas saw only 288 Ukrainians seek protection here, while the final week of 2023 saw another 537 arrive in Ireland.
This sustained level of arrivals is coupled with an average of 347 International Protection applicants, or asylum seekers, arriving in Ireland each week in December, with a total of 1,737 arriving over the course of the month.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Integration told the Irish Daily Mail that the Government will be ‘ramping up’ the awareness campaign once the changes are confirmed in legislation.