The number of private individuals hosting Ukrainian refugees has quadrupled from just over 4,000 at the start of last year to more than 16,000 now, with costs rising to €13 million a month.
Concerns have been raised this week that the accommodation recognition payment (ARP), worth €800 per month tax-free to hosts, is reducing the supply of rental accommodation, particularly in regions where rents are typically below €1,600 a month.
The rising numbers of Ukrainian households accommodated under the scheme comes as the Department of Children and Integration, which manages it, simultaneously moves to reduce its contracts with hotels to accommodate Ukrainians.
At the same time it is under mounting pressure to source accommodation for asylum seekers.
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Data provided to The Irish Times shows approvals for the ARP increased by an average of 691 a month this year, bringing the total from 4,244 in January 2023 to 10,198 in January 2024 to 16,297 as of September 22nd.
That total means the ARP is now costing €13,037,600 per month, or €156,451,200 per year.
The payment was introduced in 2022 to encourage private individuals to accommodate Ukrainian refugees in their own homes or second or third homes, at a rate of €400 per month. In December 2022 the payment was increased to €800.
It is administered by the Department of Social Protection on behalf of the Department of Children.
The payment is made directly to the host and does not preclude the homeowner seeking a further contribution from their Ukrainian guests.
While income from the rent-a-room scheme, whereby a homeowner can earn up to €14,000 a year for letting out a room in their home, is also tax-free, rental income where a landlord lets out a whole property to a tenant is taxed at up to 52 per cent.
Sinn Féin’s finance spokesman, Pearse Doherty, called in the Dáil on Wednesday for the ARP scheme to be reviewed, saying it gave an advantage to Ukrainian accommodation-hunters.
“As the Minister [for Children and Integration, Roderic O’Gorman] is aware, the scheme provides €800 a month in rent for Ukrainians, regardless of whether they are working or [not]. The payment is tax-free, which means it is worth €1,600 to a landlord. In constituencies like mine in Donegal, where the average rent is below €1,600, it is pricing other renters out of the market and reducing supply.
“That flies in the face of the commitment the Government gave, and assurances that any measures to temporarily accommodate Ukrainians would not impact on housing supply,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr O’Gorman said more than 100,000 Ukrainians had sought shelter in Ireland since the Russian invasion of their country in February 2022. They had refugee status under the European Union temporary protection directive, he added.
“The recognition payment has been very important to support the pledged accommodation and the local authority accommodation scheme. It has allowed us to move away from total reliance on hotel and guest-house accommodation that we saw earlier in our response.
“It has also allowed Ukrainians to integrate within communities. Sometimes they get entire homes and sometimes shared rooms within an individual’s house. The payment supported people to do that and to meet their costs,” said Mr O’Gorman.
The Department of Children’s figures show the cost of the scheme has risen from €3.3 million a month (€39.6 million a year) in January 2023 to €8.1 million a month (€97 million a year) in January 2024 to now more than €155 million annually.
Asked if the €800-amonth rate might be reduced, a spokesman for the department said it was “not under consideration at present”.
“It is linked to the [EU] temporary protection directive and is currently extended to March 2025,” he said.
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