Refugee bill now €3bn every year
Government expects signif icant embedded costs as supports for Ukrainians are slashed
IRELAND will face an annual €3bn bill to cover the cost of housing and payments to refugees and asylum seekers, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
As signalled in the MoS last weekend, the Cabinet moved this week to reduce payments to Ukrainian refugees from €220 a week to €38.80, and to limit the State’s responsibility to provide accommodation for those fleeing the Russian invasion of their country to 90 days.
However, this will not affect existing housing and welfare provisions for the 100,000 Ukrainians who are already in the country, or any of those who arrive before the changes are enacted.
The move comes amid Government concern over the relatively large number of Ukrainians arriving here, many of whom come to Ireland from another EU state with less generous welfare benefits.
One senior Coalition source said: ‘We can hardly expect to start taking the money off those who arrived or throw them on to the streets. Those costs are embedded now and they won’t be reduced until people leave.’
However, so far those who have arrived have shown little desire to leave, with figures from the Department of Justice showing just over 1% of Ukrainian refugees have left the country since arriving here.
The Government also expects large numbers of refugees will continue to arrive in Ireland over the coming months and years.
A source told the MoS: ‘There has been an increase from 3,500 per annum to 15,000 per annum… that is not going to change.
‘With wars in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, deprivation from climate change, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s aggression, that is not going to reduce numbers any time soon.
‘The best the Government can do is to follow the UK’s example and make Ireland as unattractive as possible,’ they said.
The source added that the Government expects that ‘significant embedded costs of just under €3bn will remain on the State’s books’.
These figures are confirmed in responses from several Government departments to queries from the MoS.
The Department of
Integration confirmed expenditure on the Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection Scheme (BOTP) scheme for Ukrainian refugees this year up until December 8 came to €1.395bn.
The department said this includes spending on ‘Ukraine accommodation and related costs, direct food, the City West processing hub, transport facilities management, IT, and other expenditure’.
The Department of Social Protection said the welfare bill for Ukrainians up until the end of November came to €465m. Meanwhile, the Department of Education confirmed ‘the estimated spend as a result of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine for 2022 was €83m and for year-end 2023 is €217m’. A spokesman said these costs ‘relate to the provision of extra services and accommodation needed for the additional Ukrainian students in the school system’.
The Department of Higher Education said it will spend €5.4m in student supports for Ukrainians. A spokesman for Health Minister Stephen Donnelly’s department said it has ‘been allocated an additional €50m for the provision of healthcare services for Ukrainian refugees in 2023’.
And the Department of Rural and Community Development has allocated another €50m to the Community Recognition Fund to help rural communities to accommodate Ukrainians.
The Department of Justice said it accrued just over €2m in costs this year, mostly from processing applications for Temporary Protection, issuing registration cards and associated ICT and facility costs.
The Department of Tourism has also allocated a €10m fund for businesses experiencing ‘trading challenges’ as a result of hotel beds
usually occupied by spending tourists being set aside for refugees.
Aside from the €2bn-plus bill for Ukrainians this year, the bill for hosting the growing number of asylum seekers applying for international protection also rose significantly this year.
The total spend on International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation was €356,554,000 in 2022. But with a 37% increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving this year, from 19,202 in 2022 to 26,092 this year up to November 23, Independent TD Carol Nolan said the cost of accommodation alone for asylum seekers could ‘reasonably be expected to exceed half a billion euro in 2023’.
The Department of Social Protection confirmed expenditure on allowances for IPAS applicants so far this year is €30.7m, up from €19.7m last year.
Other costs in areas such as health cannot be measured because, the Department of Integration noted: ‘Services for all International Protection applicants, including healthcare, are mainstreamed, and accessed through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens.’
The combined costs of hosting Ukrainian refugees together with the growing number of asylum seekers from other countries for the first 11 months of the year come to just under €2.7bn.
However, Government sources noted that when the final month’s cost and the increase in IPAS applicants are added, the actual bill for 2023 ‘will be closer to €3bn’.
Ms Nolan warned of the impact the growing refugee numbers are having on communities. She told the MoS: ‘Communities nationwide are voicing escalating social concerns about safety, strained resources, and facilities due to overcrowded accommodations.’
The Laois-Offaly TD also warned of a ‘chasm’ emerging between the Government’s immigration policy and ‘public and private opinion’.
Meanwhile, protesters opposing plans to house 70 asylum seekers at a hotel in Co. Galway forced a blockade outside the premises yesterday.
The asylum seekers are due to arrive at the Ross Lake House Hotel in Rosscahill from Thursday.
In a statement to RTÉ News, locals said the blockade will remain in place for as long as it takes and until they receive further communication from the Department of Integration.
The Department of Integration said it intends to work closely with the local community to facilitate and manage the arrival of asylum seekers.
‘Make Ireland as unattractive as possible’