Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising these important issues. As he knows, of the more than 33,000 Ukrainian displaced persons - which is the term I use rather than "refugees", because it is my understanding that is the term they prefer - who have arrived in the country, more than 23,000 are being accommodated by my Department in short-term accommodation. Within my Department, International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, has contracted over 18,000 beds across hotels, hostels, student accommodation, guest houses, bed and breakfast accommodation, commercial self-catering accommodation and other repurposed settings, as well, of course, as accommodation pledged by the public, student accommodation, holiday homes and State-owned or private properties that may be suitable for short-term accommodation. Given the continuing challenge of the numbers of people arriving, sourcing suitable accommodation can continue to be a challenge. In seeking to address the immediate accommodation needs, the safety and security of our displaced persons are the paramount consideration. In light of the continued significant numbers of people coming into the State and the additional numbers that may arrive, my Department is contracting all forms of suitable accommodation in all areas of the country, including in Cork. A dedicated team in my Department is focused on the provision of accommodation to Ukrainian refugees.

My Department is working very closely with the County and City Management Association, CCMA, to identify short-term options to meet the continued demands for accommodation. The CCMA has worked with local authorities to prepare emergency accommodation for use if there are sudden spikes in the numbers arriving. Refugees have been moved into this emergency accommodation at times when the number of arrivals is particularly high.

As of 29 May, my Department has contractual arrangements in place with about 350 accommodation providers. In most instances, these providers either provide in-house catering or subcontract catering services, or vouchers for a local supermarket are provided where appropriate. My Department has a small number of facility management services in place with providers, which can include a catering element. Currently, the Department has secured four accommodation sites in east Cork for displaced persons from Ukraine. As the Deputy will appreciate, the scale of the influx people fleeing the crisis in Ukraine is unprecedented. Unfortunately, mass catering on this scale will not be to everybody's taste or standard.

If individuals feel there are issues with the quality of the food provided, they should raise the matter in the first instance with the provider.

It is important to note much of the accommodation in the east Cork area is self-catering, where people may choose and cook their own food once they are in receipt of social protection payments that they can apply for from the Department of Social Protection. In one specific hotel in east Cork, I am assured a welcome pack is provided to all residents on arrival, including hygiene and sanitary products. Should residents require hygiene and sanitary products in advance of receiving their State payment, my Department has advised accommodation providers to provide the products and that the State will reimburse the costs on evidence of receipt.

From the beginning of the crisis, newly-arrived Ukrainians have been able to avail of free travel from their port of entry to their end destination on any public service obligation or Local Link service. In line with a whole-of-government approach, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and officials in that Department have been looking at bespoke public transport solutions. There are three key elements to this. They are speeding up the rolling out of enhanced Local Link services in parts of the country, where new Local Link services were meant to go in. Some of that is happening earlier. They are also looking at the provision of bespoke public transport services to some of these centres for accommodating Ukrainians that are more isolated. There is also the community transport fund, which is available for people to draw down for specific events.

I advise that the best point of contacts are community fora, which are shared by the local authorities and bring together the statutory and community agencies. These are the fora where specific matters are best raised in the first instance.

See this speech in context