Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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275. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a person and their children (details supplied) currently being provided with temporary accommodation via the IPAS system have the option to relocate to an alternative and more suitable accommodation provider while remaining under the IPAS system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3865/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department is now accommodating over 74,000 refugees and applicants for International Protection in State-funded accommodation.

The accommodation provided to people fleeing the war in Ukraine by my Department is temporary in its nature and given the number of people that are being accommodated it is not possible to develop tailored solutions for individuals or families. We understand and sympathise that people may wish to be accommodated in specific locations for a variety of reasons, but we cannot facilitate these requests given the number of people wishing to be accommodated by this Department and the ensuing resource and capacity constraints.

The Ukraine Crisis Emergency Accommodation Team (UCTAT) has full oversight over the accommodation already in use by Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection and funded by the State, and future State funded accommodation coming onstream. A dedicated unit within that team manages transfers and relocations between properties based on certain criteria and needs. Moves between accommodation centres can be essential and yet complex and are planned in advance in order to maximise the use of the accommodation and ensure equity among beneficiaries of temporary protection. The team is also responsible for ensuring that such moves are correctly registered on the ePass system, which is the only point of truth regarding occupancy of the accommodation.

In order to ensure that the system operates successfully, only moves to State funded accommodation agreed in advance by UCTAT should take place. In order to be fair to all those we are accommodating, moves cannot be sanctioned for reasons such as:

- Medical grounds (these are established at arrival)

- Employment opportunities

- Proximity to particular schools or third level educational facilities

- Proximity to friends, acquaintances or a particular community

- Other personal preferences

Beneficiaries of temporary protection are entitled to make their own private arrangements including potentially availing of pledged accommodation if they wish and can avail of some supports to do so. To date more than 6,300 beneficiaries have been matched to more than 2,600 pledged accommodation settings. Those wishing to avail of pledged accommodation in any given area should contact the Local Authority in that area.

I also wish to draw attention to the Government announcement of 24 November 2022 regarding the new call for unoccupied houses. The campaign to assist those fleeing the war in Ukraine is being led by Local Authorities and may be of interest in the context of the above request.

The government has introduced a Recognition Payment Scheme for those who provide accommodation to people from Ukraine. Under this scheme, a monthly flat rate of €800 per property is payable to all those hosting Ukrainian temporary protection beneficiaries. The payment linked to a minimum hosting commitment of 6 months.

Further information can be found at: offerahome.ie/