Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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8. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the improvements his Department has implemented to improve payments to hotels offering accommodation to refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15666/23]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Hotels throughout the country have played a central role in assisting the Government on the accommodation of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, along with international protection applicants. However, I know a number of hoteliers who are still owed large sums of money by the Department, which has accumulated in recent months. This is having a disastrous effect on their cash flow and it cannot be sustained. What improvements have been introduced by the Minister on the delivery of payments to hoteliers?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Deputy Dillon has engaged with me directly in respect of a number of hotels in his constituency. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine one year ago, my Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-government response to the Ukraine crisis. The unprecedented demand for accommodation and, by association, the level of transactions involved is significant. With more than 750 contractors paid monthly, the payments process is an operation of considerable scale. The Department is obliged to ensure invoices are correct and, while some are straightforward, many require queries to the provider and additional documentation to confirm what is owed.

I acknowledge that due to the quantum involved, some providers are experiencing delays in receiving payment. The Department is mindful of the impact this has on the providers themselves. We have been proactive in implementing a number of measures to reduce the backlog substantially. In terms of what we have done, the number of staff in the payments area of the Department has been doubled since the start of the year, and this includes the reassignment of 13 staff from other parts of the Department to the payments unit. We have now received five staff from an external body, KOSI, who have been on board since 6 March, with further personnel resources coming from that particular organisation as well. We have also secured four individuals from Pobal, the State body, specifically to address queries. The provision of the extra staff is having an impact. The total value of all payments made to 20 March this year is €202 million. The number of payments made between February and March of this year has doubled. We are going to continue to deliver further increases. On average, our payments and finance team is now processing approximately €30 million worth of payments every week. This has risen, but it will rise further because we have brought additional staff on board. We are also looking at outsourcing and automating a number of processes as well that, up to this point, have been done on a personal basis.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. It is welcome to hear that additional resources have been allocated to his Department in order to ensure that these payments can be made more swiftly. It is also positive to hear about the automated process. Some accommodation providers should receive their payments via an automated system. If contracts are being paid monthly, that should be automated in the context of the invoices submitted. It is difficult for many businesses to have to wait five months for payment of significant sums of money, never mind trying to survive in the current cost-of-living and inflationary crisis. We are in the opening phase of the tourism season. Any delays to payments or invoices could force hotel owners not to renew their contracts, which would put Government in a precarious position in relation to accommodation of refugees. Will the Minister give a commitment that these payments will not be delayed in the coming months?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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There have been delays. This has caused problems for hoteliers and other people who are providing serviced accommodation and doing so much to support the Government’s effort. That is why we have put a focus on this in terms of getting external resources. I have also been clear within the Department. We have had to move people and to stop other work that we would like to be doing. Such is the importance of this issue that I have directed that be done and that staff be moved. We will continue to facilitate that to make sure we can reduce and eliminate that backlog and make payments in time.

On automation, we will do as much as we can. Very large sums of money are being paid out - €200 million already at the start of this year - so there has to be some oversight from the Committee of Public Accounts and the like. We in the Department in our accountancy role have to satisfy ourselves we are paying for the right thing. There has to be some element of oversight but we are taking all steps possible to truncate the process.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will touch on the long-term strategic plan to accommodate refugees, and Government’s plans. We had the key stakeholders from the tourism and hospitality sector before the Oireachtas committee yesterday. Tourism operators cannot be asked to be the primary accommodation providers to the detriment of the broader industry. Currently, 32% of tourism beds have been given over to Government for non-tourism purposes. This will have a knock-on effect on downstream tourism businesses, such as restaurants, attractions and inbound operators. We need a more balanced approach to housing refugees, including the use of vacant dwellings, unused buildings and state institutions. There is a huge opportunity there. The Minister referred to 200 modular units being built to house 800 Ukrainians. We need ten times more. We need over 2,000 modular units. I ask for a broader approach to this. When will a strategic plan be published to ensure such an approach?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I recognise the important role the hotel and wider serviced accommodation sector provides in meeting needs we never anticipated in the context of a war. It is an issue that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, has raised with me regularly. We are looking at bringing forth other elements of accommodation. It is 700 modular homes, not 200, and will provide 2,800 places when completed. We are also looking at a quicker build modular, something which may not last as long. Those are pod-style homes. There is the refurbishment scheme run by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. There is the pledged accommodation scheme run by my Department and the Red Cross and the subsequent one by the local authorities. That accommodates 1,500 or 1,600 people, which is almost one quarter of the Ukrainians here. There are alternatives but I recognise the particular pressures on the tourism sector at the moment.