Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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280. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of an application to provide housing for Ukrainian refugees to the Red Cross in the name of a person (details supplied) considering that this application was made a number of months ago and no reply has been received to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61561/22]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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281. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of an application to provide housing for Ukrainian refugees to the Red Cross in the name of a person (details supplied) considering that this application was made a number of months ago and no reply has been received to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61562/22]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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282. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the Red Cross has a query email relating to applications for Ukrainian housing for Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61563/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 280, 281 and 282 together.

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 66,000 people have arrived in Ireland and in excess of 48,000 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, my Department has contracted in excess of 37,000 beds to accommodate Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) in more than 650 settings including hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, hostels, commercial self-catering accommodation and certain other repurposed settings. 

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

Every effort is being made to provide beneficiaries of temporary protection with pledged accommodation that is suitable for their needs. Once a pledge has passed through the inspection process and Garda vetting (where applicable), NGO Implementing Partners and Local Authorities will match BOTPs to suitable pledges. Since the beginning of the pledge programme in April this year, approximately 11,000 pledged properties have been notified to Local Authorities and other NGO Implementing Partners, with a view to assessing their viability and to match beneficiaries to those properties where possible. 

As of 1 December, it has been reported to the Department that 5,857 beneficiaries have been matched to approximately 2200 pledged properties with over €8.5million paid out to over 4,400 applicants as part of the Accommodation Recognition Payment.

I am advised by my officials that the Irish Red Cross has made efforts to contact all pledgers who have offered accommodation through the Irish Red Cross register of Pledges. Some pledges have remained uncontactable, despite numerous attempts made by the Red Cross and other Implementing Partners including the Local Authorities. Should a pledger wish to enquire about the current status of their pledge they can contact the Irish Red Cross or their Local Authority for further information. The Irish Red Cross can be contacted by email atregisterofpledges@redcross.ie or by phoning 1800 50 70 70.

The Government Decision of 28 October has reiterated Ireland’s firm commitment to assisting those fleeing from Ukraine.