Major update in Ukraine accommodation payments as thousands to be affected
The Government is set to phase out accommodation payments and State-contracted hotel beds for Ukrainian refugees, the Dáil has been told.
The Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) is a tax-free payment set up in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, reduced to €600 from €800 per month last year, and has accommodated 42,000 people since the scheme began.
Junior Minister for migration Colm Brophy told the Dáil yesterday that the payment will soon be reduced to €400 as part of plans for the ‘reduction and eventual elimination’ of the accommodation programme for Ukrainians.
Pic: Getty Images
The ARP scheme is paid to 23,500 property owners making spare rooms or second homes available to Ukrainians receiving temporary protection in Ireland, at a monthly cost of €14.5 million.
The scheme was due to expire this month but has been extended to March 2027 until it is fully phased out.
Mr Brophy said yesterday: ‘It is… my view that we will be extending the scheme, as indicated, for 12 months. This will be part of a phasing-out process of the scheme of the ARP.
Pic: Getty Images
‘It will also be the intention to reduce the payment from €600 to €400 as part of that phasing-out of ARP, and that, I believe, will enable us to have a gradual winding-down scheme.
‘Ukrainians who have enjoyed temporary protection in Ireland are a welcome part of our community. There are many, many opportunities for them to avail of housing within their own right, and many, many Ukrainians are doing that at this moment.’
The Government plans to allow hotel and B&B contracts to house Ukrainians to expire, with Mr Brophy pointing to a significant reduction in beds under contract since 2023.
‘Almost 19,200 people are currently in State-contracted accommodation. This is a significant and welcome reduction from a peak of, believe it or not, 60,000 people in November 2023,’ he said.
