Ukrainian refugees in Ireland - Megathread

Although we’d have a bit of room in our house, I would like to have had more room in my psyche for these poor, poor people & their pets but I know me. I can just about cope with family or friends staying over for a weekend before I start getting twitchy. OH & I spoke at length about how to help & we decided donations & volunteering would be what we’d do. It doesn’t make me feel great & maybe we’ll change our stance as things progress. Can’t get the sight of contact details written on a little girl’s back out of my head, in case she gets separated from her family or they’re all killed.

Anyone know if there is a central portal for volunteering re Ukraine refugees? Or where to get the information other than trawling through the internet for every likely charity/organisation.

The refugees are entitled to full social welfare. This includes rent allowance. They don't get this in the UK, this is why they are offering money to homeowners there. In Ireland you can charge rent if you want & the state will pay rent allowance

From the linked article:

"Officials are examining whether up to 8,000 homes, currently vacant because their owners are in the care of nursing homes under the Fair Deal scheme, could be used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees"

How would that work?

If someone is in the Fair Deal Scheme and their house is currently vacant, does the Minister want to do some sort of compulsory acquisition to house refugees?

Just a guess but I guessing government might wave fair deal payment if they are allowed to use the home

Who isn't sticking up for themselves in this current affair??

The article doesn't report why precisely these families are 'returning' refugees.

Totally agree

When they say some were returned, they dont say how many. Even families taking in foreign students each year would sometimes return a student because they don't get on.

The main problem is that the red cross has actually housed very few so far. They haven't even inspected many homes. Hundreds upon hundreds of people organised their own refuges through Facebook. The vast majority of those housed so far haven't been through the red cross. The homes weren't inspected & deemed suitable. The homeowners weren't checked and no one explained what to expect.

I do think if the red cross moved quicker homeowners & refugees would be better matched.

This is no surprise really. The reality of taking in total strangers who are undoubtably shell-shocked and traumatised from their experience and likely physically worn out from their journey, but who are from a completely different culture, with possibly little to no English, and no means to support themselves while the paperwork gets sorted out was never going to end well unfortunately. This is made worse by the financial and other problems being experienced by the hosts and indeed the economy and infrastructure at the moment.

The rush to proclaim and offer impractical support just doesn't stack up against the reality of what is needed. This may be unpopular (as the 2nd post and the raft of thanks indicates) but it's why kneejerk reactions are never the best option.

Well said, they gave it a shot, they give humanity some credibility.

I've said from the outset , whilst the Gesture laudable, it was completely impractical. It was only after pledges were made , the vetting process was announced. Yesterday there was a report up to 70% of pledged accommodation was unsuitable.

It's clear, Government have started block booking hotels, the Pandemic Palace (City west) now booked to accommodate refugees for 2 years, a hotel in Galway , so remote the crows flying over bring a packed lunch has just announced they are ceasing all hotel business to accommodate refugees. Many more have already done so.

Various reports on Boards of wedding bookings being cancelled with little notice as a result of the crisis.

Michael Martin has confirmed EU will be covering none of the costs of this.

This is turning into Direct Provision +

A Train wreck in slow motion , in essence .

Anyone know why the accomodation pledged was unsuitable?

The eu are covering none of the costs of it? Wow, an article the other day put the costs per 10k of refugees staying in hotels n guesthouses at 500m a year. Already people who took people in going to their local TD looking for financial help to cover increased costs.

This is going to turn into an absolute mess if they take anywhere near 200k refugees. Think there's to be 40k in by Easter.

HAP is most definitely an option. They are entitled to full social welfare rights here in Ireland. A lot of the houses that were pledged are rental properties. HAP will be paying the rent.

I think you don't understand what the pledge is all about. The pledge is for accommodation. It's not exclusively for free accommodation. You can of course offer it for free but you can also change rent & HAP will pay the rent.

It's been mentioned by the government that some fair deal homes might be made available. The plan is for the government to pay rent to the homeowners and it won't effect their fair deal scheme. This rent will be paid via HAP

Hopefully compassion will deter rabies. I'm all for them bringing over their pets but there are supposed to be rules for a reason. Are they getting any sort of vet check?

No I absolutely understand what a pledge means and in the context of this crisis, I also understand what sensible, & practical means.

You clearly don't understand how HAP works and I'll say again, is not an option in these circumstances, unless of course government change the Rules.

I'm not aware of any plans government has to pay home owners rent, perhaps you could enlighten me.

There's been an awful lot of mentioning, promises , assumptions , here say and zero substance. Simon Coveney admitted just a few days ago that people might have to stay in tents for maybe 24/48 hours .

Let's be Frank here.

Government went head first into all sorts of promises with absolutely no infrastructure in place, they somehow forgot about an existing housing crisis not to mention the shocking state of health care.

I won't get started on the two tier and benefits system introduced over night but will say the hypocrisy is astounding. Spare at thought for those in Direct provision for years and essentially ignored by the state, its disgraceful.

I say Welcome anyone needing help but my god, have a plan and more importantly treat everyone equally .

Yes but there's still a concern as documentation rules relaxed and there's no quarantine being enforced , basically cart before the horse approach , I don't know how long it's actually taking to see pets but again, another after thought by government.

Precisely. I'm genuinely impressed at the obvious care Ukranians show towards their pets , I love animals but it was clear from the outset 100"s of animals , maybe more were going to be entering the country and little preparation in place for this influx. Its possible many of these pets were vaccinated but it's proving it that's difficult as this paper work nit a priority when their owners fleeing.

It's never been a secret that HAP would be paid. This is why so many landlords pledged property. You didn't see the link to the Irish Times article that states:

Will homeowners receive financial support?

The accommodation can be provided on a charitable basis, or the homeowner can request to receive the housing assistance payment (Hap), according to the Irish Red Cross. Hap is a payment from local authorities to landlords letting to tenants who receive social housing support, to cover a portion or all of the rent.

Refugees will be entitled to social welfare so may be able to contribute towards electricity and gas bills, an Irish Red Cross spokesman said.

HAP can & will be paid under current legislation. Absolutely no changes required.

This article is almost a month old. HAP has always been planned. If you don't believe the Irish Times then have a look at the citizens information service website. They list what the refugees are entitled to

I agree.

They are talking about using tents in the coming weeks.

Very sad