Ukrainian accommodation payment to be cut by €200 per month
The tax-free Ukrainian accommodation recognition payment will be reduced from €800 to €600, under plans being brought to Cabinet on Tuesday by Norma Foley.
The monthly payment paid to people who take in those fleeing the war in Ukraine is set to be cut by €200.
The tax-free Ukrainian accommodation recognition payment will be reduced from €800 to €600, under plans being brought to Cabinet on Tuesday by disability and equality minister Norma Foley.
However, the scheme is to be extended until the end of March 2026 to align with the extension of the EU Temporary Protection Directive.
Since the start of the scheme, €272m has been paid to 22,900 hosts.
CSO data released last month showed that more than 79,600 Ukrainian nationals remain resident in Ireland.
Some 112,189 Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) were issued to Ukrainians who registered with the Department of Social Protection in order to access social services and employment since March 4, 2022 — eight days after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began.
Helping Irish Hosts, which was originally set up to help individuals who wanted to take in displaced Ukrainians, said people are worried about the cut.
Speaking to RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland, chief executive Angie Gough said: "People are feeling very uncertain. Just to give you an idea of the scale of the number of people that we're talking about right now, there's 39,000 Ukrainians being hosted in just over 19,000 properties and shared homes across the country.
"And of those, 56% of them are living 'cheek by jowl' in houses with people, sharing dishwashers and toilets, and all of the rest in houses across the country. It's totally unprecedented and if you put those all together, that looks like the Aviva Stadium full."
However, Ms Gough said that the way in which hosts have been informed of changes has been disappointing.
"The manner in which the decision about what happens next gets communicated or doesn't, to those people who have really stepped up when the State has needed them is it's really disappointing," she told the station.
"We've tried to have conversations around what a good responsible tapering off of that payment should look like. 73% of hosts say they can only do what they're doing because of that payment."
