Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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620. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if an official in his Department will make contact with a person (details supplied) regarding accommodation for Ukrainian refugees given that numerous attempts to contact the International Protection Accommodation Services have been unsuccessful. [31829/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February, and the invoking of the temporary protection Directive by the European Union shortly afterwards, my Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-governmental response to the Ukraine crisis.

The operational challenges brought about by responding to the conflict are significant. Our country has never experienced an influx of displaced persons like the one that we have seen over the past months. My Department’s role is focused on the immediate, short-term accommodation needs of those who have fled here.

To date, more than 35,000 people have arrived in Ireland and just in excess of 25,000 of those have been referred to us seeking accommodation from the State.

Overseeing provision of accommodation on this scale during this timeframe for all those who require it remains immensely challenging. Due to the urgent need to source accommodation, a broad range of accommodation types have been contracted, including emergency accommodation. While this is not ideal, the priority is to place people fleeing the conflict in safe and secure accommodation.

Numbers seeking international protection have also increased adding to accommodation capacity issues.

Due to the large volume of correspondence received and the demands placed of providing safe and secure accommodation, it has not always been possible to reply within the desired timeframe. My Department is working to advance this process to the greatest extent possible.

My Department has established a dedicated contact helpdesk for BOTP related queries. This contact address is available to view on the accommodation page within the GOV.ie web portal. Queries can be submitted directly for follow up to ukrainetempaccom@equality.gov.ie.