Ukrainians will not get local authority houses, says Minister

Refugees from Ukraine will not be given access to housing intended for people on social housing lists, senior Government figures have confirmed.

Coalition sources cited concerns that prioritising refugees for social housing could generate resentment against them. Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien told Newstalk on Sunday that an accelerated programme of refurbishing unoccupied social housing units – known as voids – is "absolutely not a Ukraine response" but would be for the use of people already waiting for social housing.

“I want to be really, really clear about this,” said Mr O’Brien. Any newly available units would be “for people who are waiting on the social housing lists”, he said.

The Minister later confirmed this to The Irish Times. “Social housing will be for those on the social housing list,” he said.

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Senior Government figures amplified the guarantee over the weekend, warning that prioritising Ukrainians for scarce social housing could trigger resentment against refugees and political opposition to the acceptance of large numbers of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Suggestions from within Government last week that refugees could be accommodated in refurbished social housing units caused alarm, and Government Buildings is understood to have quickly rebuffed the idea.

Mr O’Brien is also understood to have been strongly against the idea.

Government agencies are scrambling to find accommodation for Ukrainians. And there is some frustration at senior levels in the administration over the pace at which the Irish Red Cross – which is co-ordinating the provision of accommodation pledged by members of the public – is making progress.

Ardfheis

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil has been forced to move its ardfheis from the Citywest complex in Dublin, which is set to play an increasing role in accommodating refugees from Ukraine.

The hotel and conference centre is already being used as a reception centre, but negotiations are under way to lease the entire 700-bedroom hotel to house refugees. It is the largest hotel in the State.

In a note to members sent late on Friday evening, Fianna Fáil headquarters said it had been informed “in recent hours that Citywest will no longer be available to host our ardfhéis, planned for 17th and 18th June 2022. In anticipation of this we have been working on putting contingency plans in place. We confirm that we are still working on having our ardfhéis proceed in June. We will be in contact over the coming days with revised details” members were told.

HQ added: “This has been an evolving situation in recent weeks over which we had no control. We know you will understand given the circumstances.”

At the start of April it emerged that the Government was in advanced negotiations to use the hotel and Ministers have since been told that a deal was imminent.

Part of the wider campus, the Citywest convention centre is already in use as an overflow facility for processing refugees at times when Dublin Airport comes under too much pressure.

However, the broader deal is similar to one struck for the Citywest facility at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ministers were told earlier this month.

Negotiations

The Cabinet was briefed that the Department of Equality is in negotiations with the owners of the 750-bedroom Citywest Hotel in Dublin to use the entire complex.

An indemnity, which would cover lost revenue for the hotel arising from the deal, was sought and agreed at Cabinet earlier this month, and is seen as a key part of finalising the agreement.

It is unclear if a deal has finally been agreed, but the cancellation of events takes place amid ongoing negotiations, with sources indicating there was back and forth under way on contracts on Friday evening.

A spokesman for Tetrarch, the company that owns Citywest, had no comment.