Leo Varadkar said the government did not know whether it would be able to house and support another 30,000-50,000 people “if that number arrived over the course of the next year”, reports The Irish Times.
“Based on current numbers, it wouldn’t be far off that and we just don’t know if we’re able to provide that level of accommodation,” he told the Dáil on Wednesday.
Integration Minister Roderick O’Gorman spoke out after facing opposition from cabinet colleagues over plans to limit state-provided housing for new arrivals from Ukraine to just 90 days.
Varadkar said there was now a “secondary movement” into Ireland, with Ukrainians coming here who had been living in other parts of Western Europe for months.
“It’s a long standing issue with international protection, people who have been living safely in other parts of western Europe for a period of time, then coming to Ireland and claiming asylum. Some of that is linked to the fact that we have a better offering in Ireland than would be the case in Northern Ireland or Britain or France or other countries that are not too far from us and that’s why we have to review the situation and we’re doing that at the moment,” he said, reports The Irish Times.
On Wednesday, The Irish Times reported that Tánaiste Michael Martin had expressed particular concerns about the proposed deadline, arguing that such an approach would mean shifting responsibility to the Department of Housing.
The Fianna Fáil leader expressed concern about the impact on homeless services, a sentiment echoed by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.
“I wasn’t at Cabinet. So I don’t know what kind of exchanges were there,” Mr O’Brien said. “I think it’s important to remember that the temporary protection directive brings us into 2025 and there’s no sign of the conflict ending anytime soon. And we have to measure our response to fit that as well,” reports The Irish Times.
Asked where he thought refugees should go because of the state’s housing shortage, O’Brien suggested the proposals would be shorter than eliminating housing within 90 days.
“It’s not a black and white proposal,” he added, reports The Irish Times.
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