Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

106. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the projected funding allocation needed to support Ukrainian refugees coming to Ireland in 2022; and the amount of money allocated for these purposes to date. [21255/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

At this stage it is difficult to provide an accurate estimate as to the cost of supporting refugees arriving from Ukraine as the range of potential arrivals is large and the accommodation solutions, both for larger numbers of arrivals and for the medium to long term, will have a significant impact on the overall costs.

Work to better understand the potential expenditure requirement is ongoing within my Department. There is a whole-of-Government response in place to co-ordinate on the impacts from the conflict. Forecasting and modelling being developed in that context will inform expenditure impacts on an ongoing basis, along with reporting of actual spend incurred by Departments over the coming months.

For 2022, €3.9 billion of the funding made available to continue our response to Covid-19 remained held in reserve following the Revised Estimates. Taking into account measures agreed resulting from the re-introduction of public health restrictions in December, in addition to the expenditure package agreed to support households with higher energy costs, approximately €1½ billion of this reserve is, in effect, committed.

Where funding requirements to meet the costs of the humanitarian provision for Ukrainian arrivals to Ireland cannot be met by Departments through re-prioritisation of existing resources, it is intended that where allocations are required they would in the first instance be met from the remaining €2½ billion reserve, without requiring an increase in the Government Expenditure Ceiling. However, it should be noted that there may be further demands on this reserve for Covid related spending, depending on position with the virus later in the year.

For 2023, in the recently published Stability Programme Update, an amount of €3 billion has been included to meet costs of providing supports for Ukrainian arrivals to Ireland.

The scale of funding needed, for 2022 and future years, will be considered further on an ongoing basis, including in the context of the Summer Economic Statement.