Unoccupied holiday homes should be prioritised for Ukrainians fleeing war, says Irish Refugee Council

Unoccupied holiday homes should firstly be priotised for Ukrainian refugees before shared homes are considered, the Irish Refugee Council has said.

The charity said the Government needs to look at long-term solutions for housing Ukrainian refugees and is calling on it to use existing, unused accommodation.

It has praised the Government’s response to the humanitarian crisis but said as 18,000 refugees have arrived in the country and with this number set to grow, long-term solutions must be put in place.

In its policy paper to Government which is published today, the Irish Refugee Council has suggested that unoccupied holiday homes are the most suitable accommodation for refugees.

After that, it suggests that unoccupied purpose-built ‘build to rent’ accommodation should be used and then vacant student housing.

If these accommodation types have been exhausted, the charity says then shared homes should be utilised.

On Wednesday, higher education minister Simon Harris announced that the number of Ukrainian refugees that will be housed in on-campus accommodation when it is not occupied by students over the summer months would double to 2,000.

“Our policy paper acknowledges that the Irish State’s response has been strong,” CEO of the Irish Refugee Council Nick Henderson said.

"We admire the Irish public’s show of solidarity, but we must now look at the next steps and a long-term plan.

“Our key recommendation is prioritising existing, unused accommodation supply.

"A voluntary holiday homes pledge scheme should be established to enable people across Ireland to offer these houses as accommodation, allowing the State to accommodate refugees from Ukraine in unoccupied holiday homes which are currently available. ”

The policy paper also recommends that the Government should guide and support refugees through the accommodation process and honour its commitment to ending Direct Provision for other people in the country’s asylum system.

“Given the scale of the challenge, a whole of society approach should be adopted, with all sectors — public, private and civil society — urged to support the huge humanitarian response effort and provide accommodation wherever possible,” Mr Henderson said.

"Emergency powers and legislative change should also be considered, if necessary.

“Finally, we call on Government to honour its commitment to ending Direct Provision.

“While this commitment is likely to suffer in the short term, with imagination, accommodation solutions identified now may offer some opportunities for pursuing alternatives to Direct Provision in the longer term.”