Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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175. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has considered the vacant former HSE site on a site (details supplied) for the purpose of accommodating IPA applications and or Ukrainian refugees. [11736/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, 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 76,000 people have arrived in Ireland and in excess of 56,000 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. 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.

The suggestion for accommodation purposes is greatly appreciated.

In terms of reference to HSE properties, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is coordinating the Emergency Refurbishment (Ukraine) Programme. There are currently 61 projects being progressed with expected capacity for approximately 2,700 people once delivered. These are complex projects requiring significant levels of renovation in order to be habitable for people fleeing the war in Ukraine. I understand that a small number of these projects include large HSE properties, though it should be noted that large numbers of the properties forwarded by the HSE required significant refurbishment and/or utilities provision works and thus were not suitable for immediate use by this Department. There is, however, no record of the particular property mentioned by the Deputy being offered or progressed.

In addition to the refurbishment works underway, the Department of Housing has confirmed that it would be willing to consider new refurbishment proposals, which can be forwarded through the Ukraine accommodation offers portal on Gov.ie.