Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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460. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his attention has been drawn to the delays in payments to persons hosting Ukrainian refugees (details supplied). [47936/22]

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 50,000 people have arrived in Ireland and in excess of 39,000 of those have been referred to this Department 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.

The priority is to place people fleeing the conflict in safe and secure accommodation.

The Government is committed to delivering a humanitarian response to welcome people seeking protection in Ireland as part of the European Union's overall response. The scale of response to this crisis has been unprecedented and Irish people have displayed an incredible level of generosity in their support and pledges of accommodation.

My Departmental officials are working to clear a backlog of payments which has affected a number of providers of accommodation to Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection in recent weeks. This has arisen due to the extraordinary volume of contractors (over 500) currently working with the Department to provide accommodation to meet the ever-increasing demand. My officials have advised me that this backlog has been substantially shortened. I have instructed that outstanding queries, including the one highlighted by the Deputy, be dealt with as swiftly as possible.

I trust this information is of assistance.