New figures released by the government reveal Donegal currently has the third highest number of private individuals being paid to house Ukrainian refugees.
The county now has 1,305 people receiving an Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP), according to Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Norma Foley.
Minister Foley told Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy in a written Dáil reply that since the start of 2022, €239m has been paid out by the State to 22,399 accommodation providers across the country for accommodating 49,840 Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP) in a programme aimed at accommodating Ukrainians.
The €239m payout is through the ARP which is a monthly payment of €800 available to those who are providing accommodation to a person or people who arrived in Ireland under the EU Temporary Protection Directive.
Minister Foley said that, currently, over 15,500 hosts are accommodating almost 36,000 BOTPs in over 19,000 accommodations.
The figures provided by her show that Dublin has the highest number of people receiving the ARP at 4,518, followed by Cork at 1,828, Donegal at 1,305, Mayo at 1,266, Galway at 1,133, Kildare at 1,029 and Kerry at 1,022.
She said that a person providing accommodation to BOTPs on a commercial basis is ineligible to participate in the scheme.
She said that ARP does not create a landlord and tenant relationship between the accommodation host who has qualified for the financial contribution and the Ukrainians living in the accommodation, and it does not provide an automatic right to tenancy.
Housing International Protection (IP) applicants tops €1 billion
Meanwhile, Minister Foley also revealed the annual State spend in accommodating International Protection (IP) applicants last year topped €1 billion for the first time.
The daily average spend of €2.75 million per day in accommodating IP applicants is revealed in new figures provided by Minister Foley.
The figures, provided to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, show that the spend of €1.005bn last year was a 54% increase on the €651.75m paid out in 2023 on IP applicants.
Minister Foley revealed since the start of 2019, the State has spent €2.5bn in accommodating IP applicants and the spend of €1bn last year is a multiple of the €129m paid out in 2019.
She told Deputy Tóibín that the average daily cost of accommodating individual IP applicants in 2024 was €84 and this was a 9% increase on the €76.80 daily cost for 2023.
In her written reply, Minister Foley stated that the spend includes all accommodation and ancillary costs such as facilities management and other related expenditure.
“The average cost per night fluctuates due to a wide range of factors, including the number of residents and the nature of the type of accommodation centres developed and contracted with,” she said.
The most recent International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) figures show that Nigerians have the highest number in IPAS accommodation at 6,914, followed by Georgia at 3,072, Algeria at 2,733, Somalia at 2,388, Zimbabwe at 2,209, Jordan at 2,157, Afghanistan at 1,715, Pakistan at 1,656, Bangladesh at 1,373 and South Africa at 1,249.
The figures show that a further 694 are from the occupied Palestinian territory, while the IPAS figures show that South Africa, Georgia and Algeria have ‘Safe Country’ designation.
On the escalating costs of accommodating IP applicants, Minister Foley stated that “it is important to note that in the period from 2022 onward, numbers of international protection applicants increased sharply, and creating an increase in overall costs directly related to this increase”.
Ms Foley stated that by way of illustration at the end of 2021, IPAS accommodated just over 7,000 people, and today almost 33,000 IP applicants are provided with accommodation.
She said that out of the overall being accommodated today, about 9,000 are children with their families.
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