Officials warn of ‘growing reluctance’ in councils to accommodate more Ukrainian refugees

The Department of Integration privately warned that officials were seeing a “growing reluctance” from some local authorities to accommodate more Ukrainian refugees in their areas due to pressure on services, according to an internal briefing.

The Government is scrambling to find shelter for 520 asylum seekers it has been unable to accommodate after anti-immigrant protesters targeted camps of homeless asylum seekers sleeping in tents in Dublin city in recent days.

Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman has said it is hoped many of the asylum seekers currently homeless will be offered accommodation this week.

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The department is due to open four new accommodation centres – mostly refurbished office buildings – within the next fortnight. Three of the sites are in Dublin and one is in Co Clare. Officials are also exploring the possibility of leasing barges to use as accommodation. However one source said there was no expectation of any “imminent” move to house refugees or asylum seekers on barges.

In an internal briefing the department reported a “growing reluctance” from some local authorities and communities to take more Ukrainian refugees into their localities “due to pressure on services”. It cautioned there would be “challenges” to placing more refugees in areas where services, such as schools or local doctors, were already under strain.

The briefing, released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information act, was prepared ahead of a meeting between Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mr O’Gorman on April 26th.

The document warned there was a “high risk” that rooms leased in the hospitality sector may be lost as hotels, bed and breakfasts and other private providers “pivot back to tourism”.

The State is providing accommodation to more than 60,000 Ukrainian refugees who have fled the war with Russia since last February, as well as over 20,000 asylum seekers from other countries.

On Monday Mr Varadkar said he was “shocked and horrified” at the aggressive protesting that forced a small number of international protection applicants out of tents in which they were living off Sandwith Street, Dublin 2, last Friday. The Taoiseach said he did not believe there were enough gardaí available on the streets of Dublin to effectively combat violent attacks on refugees.

However, gardaí have questioned the linking of Garda staffing issues to anti-immigration attacks, with one Garda source saying the Taoiseach appeared to be trying to “deflect” from housing policy failures that had resulted in asylum seekers sleeping in tents on the streets.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris said when he met Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on Monday to discuss the events of the weekend the commissioner assured him he had the resources required for “operational integrity” and could carry out his policing plans. Mr Harris was “absolutely satisfied” with the commissioner’s assurance.

In its briefing documents the Department of Integration said the huge demands to source accommodation was limiting its “oversight” of the quality of the housing. It was also affecting its ability to engage with local communities before moving asylum seekers and refugees into an area.

Other challenges facing the department included processing the large volumes of payments to companies providing accommodation, and difficulties “recruiting and retaining sufficient staff”, it said.

The department said it was working to move the more than 5,000 people living in direct provision centres who have been granted permission to remain in the Republic out of the State-provided accommodation.