Ukrainian refugees must start paying for meals or face eviction

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees will have to start paying for their meals from next week or face being removed from their accommodation.

From January 3rd, refugees staying in hotels and other serviced accommodation must pay €10 a day, or €5 for children, for their food.

Until now this cost had been met by the Department of Integration. The Government recently decided to end this practice as part of an effort to ease pressure on the State’s refugee accommodation system.

Under the new scheme, residents staying in serviced accommodation that do not have self-catering facilities, will be obliged to contribute, even if they intend to seek their meals elsewhere. If a refugee refuses to contribute, it will be treated as a rejection of the offer of accommodation and they can be told to leave.

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Under updated rules, only one offer of accommodation is being made to refugees from Ukraine. If this is rejected, they must find their own private accommodation. This is to “help ensure that accommodation continues to be allocated in an equitable and efficient way”, the department said.

There are about 70,000 Ukrainians in Ireland who have been granted status as beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTP) under an EU-wide scheme introduced following the Russian invasion last February.

According to figures from the department, 46,040 of these are in serviced accommodation, a figure which changes daily.

The new policy only applies to those in serviced accommodation “where self-catering options are not available”, a department spokesman said, for example hotels, B&Bs and guest houses.

The scheme is being introduced on a phased basis. The contribution will cover breakfast, lunch and dinner and must be paid in advance.

The State is also ceasing the practice of paying for laundry services and pet accommodation for residents in serviced accommodation but room cleaning services will still be covered.

“This policy only applies to beneficiaries of temporary protection in certain serviced accommodation where self-catering options are not available,” the department said.

“In such circumstances BOTPs do not have access to cooking facilities to prepare their own meals either because they are not available or for health and safety reasons.”

In an interview with The Irish Times, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman warned of “significant pressures” this coming spring in accommodating refugees from Ukraine, as hotels have indicated they intend to resume offering their rooms for tourists.

Mr O’Gorman also said the €800 recognition payment offered to households accommodating refugees will also likely remain the same.

“We expect some hotels will revert to providing a tourism offer rather than being contracted to our department. So we will have to find new accommodation for those when the contracts run out. That is why we are looking at a number of other mechanisms, we are looking at the modular housing scheme that is under way at the moment and hopefully by spring we will have delivered 500 units across the country,” Mr O’Gorman said.

The State is also examining the use of refurbished barracks and residential institutions, he said.

“We have put out the new call for vacant homes through the local authorities. The pledge system that was under way has delivered significantly. Over 6,000 people are now living in pledged accommodation. It will be tight, we are very aware of that.”