UKRAINIANS will have to prove they are ‘self-sufficient’ to be allowed remain in Ireland and be placed on a pathway to citizenship, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.
Confidential documents obtained by the Mail detail plans for the end of the Temporary Protection Directive, and the withdrawal of permanent supports for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian war, within the next year.
The documents show a seismic shift in policy is being readied to remove all long-term accommodation supports for most of the 60,000 Ukrainians currently availing of them by March 2027.
And the Department of Housing has been tasked with assessing whether the modular homes being used by 2,640 Ukrainians, which will be taken away in March, can be used by it in the future.
But critics of the plans have warned it will lead to ‘a homelessness crisis’ among Ukrainians and result in thousands more people competing for already scarce rental accommodation.
The plan was agreed at a meeting of the Coalition leaders and senior ministers at the Cabinet committee on Justice and Immigration on Monday night and will be ratified by Cabinet in the coming weeks.
A Government source told the Mail that the measures are part of an EU approach to an ‘orderly wind down of supports’ and that there is a need to cut the costs to the taxpayer.
‘There needs to be equity... we have already taken more Ukrainians per capita than any other country in Europe and the cost is not sustainable,’ the source said.
Department of Justice documents detail how a special immigration status will be created for Ukrainians when the EU-wide Temporary Protection Directive lapses next March
The documents detail how a special immigration status will be created for Ukrainians when the EU-wide Temporary Protection Directive lapses next March.
This means they will not have to enter the asylum process, requiring them to be housed in the Direct Provision system.
However, only those who can prove they are self-sufficient will be eligible, which the documents say will incentivise ‘independence and integration’ while minimising ‘dependency on State services’.
Applicants will have to have been living in Ireland for more than one year and working for more than six months earning, on average, more than minimum wage in order to be eligible.
The documents note that this permission ‘would be based on the inclusion of the whole family unit in Ireland’ availing of temporary protection.
The special status will be granted for an initial two-year period but be renewed for a further three years and will count towards time spent for naturalisation.
To gain citizenship, an applicant must have resided in Ireland for five of the last nine years.
Meanwhile, the Department of Housing is eyeing up the modular homes being used by 2,640 Ukrainians, which were exempt from planning permission and were exempt from restrictions and design requirements on normal homes as the Government grappled with the shortage of accommodation.
‘Work is ongoing with the Department of Housing and local authorities about possible future uses for this accommodation portfolio,’ the documents state.
Department of Justice documents say the new move will incentivise ‘independence and integration’ while minimising ‘dependency on State services’.
The Government is aiming to free up housing and tourism accommodation being used to house Ukrainian refugees.
Modular housing, hosted accommodation as well as commercial hotel and B&B arrangements will all cease next March.
The supports were provided to Ukrainian refugees who came here prior to March 2024.
After this point a temporary accommodation was provided for a 90-day period and has since been reduced to 30 days.
But Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman warned the ‘very rapid removal of supports’ will create ‘a cliff edge’ for Ukrainian families.
The former integration minister said: ‘Civilians are still dying every day in Ukraine. Now is not the time to take away all remaining supports for Ukrainians who were welcomed into communities across our country in 2022.’
His party colleague Senator Malcolm Noonan said the removal of accommodation supports ‘will lead to a homelessness crisis among our Ukrainian community, who are now part of our wider community’.
He added: ‘These are decisions that should only be made following a declaration of peace in Ukraine and some guarantee that families can return home safely if they wish.’
The withdrawal will begin in August and people are expected to be given a minimum of three months’ notice.
The Government is also to wind down the accommodation recognition payment (ARP), a tax-free monthly sum of €600 paid to those offering accommodation to Ukrainians, by March next year.
About 42,000 Ukrainians are in such arrangements, offered by about 18,000 Irish people.
Ukrainian refugees in emergency tent accommodation in Stradbally Co Laois in 2023 - the state has used a variety of housing solutions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the EU requires that Ukrainians fleeing the Russian war are offered accommodation, which in Ireland manifests as a 30-day offer of accommodation.
He said the move to ‘wind down’ State accommodation would be ‘really, really problematic’.
He said that some Ukrainians will have the means to move out but there is concern about the difficulty with the rental market.
He said it could not be overstated how important the ARP payment is, and that for many was the only source of accommodation for Ukrainians arriving in Ireland or leaving hotels.
‘It’s a crucial safety net to avoid, ultimately, people falling into homelessness – 42,000 people living in that type of accommodation – but for that they would be going to the private rented market itself,’ he told Newstalk.
‘It really is a crucial safeguard in that respect.’