Ms Sheenagh Rooney:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to come before it today to speak about the role our Department has played in accommodating those fleeing Ukraine. As assistant secretary in the Department I lead the Ukraine response, a division that was set up in March 2022. The division has approximately 150 staff seconded and otherwise who are dedicated to all aspects of the Ukraine accommodation response working across government with colleagues in local government, communities and agencies. We work to help those who have sought refuge in Ireland and we have provided accommodation to all those who need it. It is very much an evolving response that has been challenging but immensely rewarding for all involved.

As of May 2023, more than 83,000 temporary protection orders have been granted and the Department and its staff, working with others, has successfully provided accommodation to more than 61,000 people from Ukraine within the space of 14 months. Every person who has asked for shelter from our Department continues to receive it. Daily average arrivals presently stand at 88. As the conflict continues we expect arrivals to continue and we continue to plan our response to this.

Following the invasion in February 2022, our humanitarian response has included putting in place the internal infrastructure necessary to respond effectively to the large-scale accommodation demands; processing some 60,000 for accommodation through the integrated Citywest transit hub; ensuring 95% of arrivals are processed and transported to their new accommodation within one day; contracting in excess of 47,000 beds with more than 770 providers; and working collaboratively with implementing partners, including our local authority colleagues, to enable more than 10,400 beneficiaries of temporary protection through the pledged and offer-a-home accommodation schemes, noting that to date €30 million has been paid out to hosts in respect of the annual recognition payment.

We are very much working in partnership across government with colleagues, including with the Department of Defence, which has worked with us on a number of sites. We are also working in collaboration with a number of sports organisations to secure facilities such as Croke Park, the Aviva stadium, and the National Sports Centre, Abbotstown, as required, and with the Office of Public Works, OPW, to secure the rapid homes, which the committee is aware of. We are working across government as part of the longer term response to deliver accommodation solutions for beneficiaries of temporary protection, BOTPs.

Our response continues to evolve to address the challenges associated with the scale of accommodation provision. We are now building on that response with various business process improvements, which we can talk about to the committee, including a portal to address all offers and improvements we are making around payments, having first experienced challenges in that regard. The Department has paid out more than €500 million this year and we are averaging around €30 million per week. We have put measures in place to improve the payment system and those measures continue.

We are also involved in a sustainable multi-strand accommodation solution as part of the wider government response. This is co-ordinated through the Department of the Taoiseach accommodation working group to ensure delivery of what is expected going forward. All of that work is ongoing.

No one could have envisaged the scale and the breadth of the humanitarian response that has been required but the Department is happy to confirm that all of those BOTPs who arrived and sought shelter in Ireland have received that as part of the whole-of-government response. We recently surveyed the BOTPs in Ireland and received very positive feedback from them around the welcome and the accommodation. The Department will continue to work with colleagues across government, the local sector and State agencies to do more to support the effort. I thank the Chair and members for their attention. I will now pass over to my colleague Ms Carol Baxter who will address the international protection side.