A third of the 2,500 Ukrainian refugees now in Ireland are children – McEntee

More than 2,500 Ukrainian refugees have now arrived in Ireland, while the number of people offering accommodation in spare rooms in homes and vacant properties has passed the 10,000 mark.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said Ireland would be “vigilant” in relation to who was coming into the country but the focus would be on welcoming those fleeing the war.

She said there would be no change to the Common Travel Area (CTA) with the UK in the wake of reported security concerns in Britain over Ireland’s open-door policy.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday of an unnamed British government source complaining about Ireland’s move to give shelter to possibly 100,000 refugees, while the number in Britain remains in the low hundreds.

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It was claimed that the situation presented a security risk to the UK.

Ms McEntee said her department engaged regularly with its British counterparts and she spoke to home secretary Priti Patel last week and there was “constant co-operation”.

She said it was important that security checks were in place and information was shared.

“We need to be vigilant at all times. We need to make sure that everybody coming into this country is who they say they are but, above all, our response is to make sure that those who are fleeing Ukraine are welcomed, that they’re given the support and the help that they need. And that is our first and foremost concern.”

She said the focus of her discussion with Ms Patel was agreeing to stay in contact if issues arose “security or otherwise”. Ms McEntee said the CTA was “not going to change”.

She said she was “very confident and happy” with the conversations she had with Ms Patel and the mechanisms that had been put in place.

Supports

Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland fill out a one-page form to get temporary protection and access to social protection supports.

Ms McEntee and Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys met some of the arrivals at Dublin Airport on Wednesday.

Two-thirds of the Ukrainians arriving in Ireland are female and about a third have sought help with accommodation and are being housed in hotels.

The Government has said it is not going to put a cap on the number of refugees Ireland will accept and Ms McEntee said that “hasn’t changed irrespective of the fact that the numbers seem to be increasing on a daily basis”.

All arrivals are getting Personal Public Service (PPS) numbers to access State supports and Ms Humphreys said they would be “treated the same as Irish citizens”.

Initially they are being placed on the Supplementary Welfare Allowance before being transitioned to the social protection payments most suited to their circumstances.

The allowance is payable at rates of up to €206 a week with increases for adult and child dependents.

Ukrainian refugees will get extra supports if they have children including Child Benefit payments. The payments will be accessed through post offices.

Ms Humphreys said some may wish to work and they would be assisted in this. “Some very highly skilled people are coming into this country. We have a lot of vacancies at the minute. So we want to help them in every single way that we can,” she said.

The Irish Red Cross said the public response to the call for accommodation was “astonishing” and “heartwarming” with pledges now exceeding 10,000.

There are about 20 volunteers from mobile phone company Three and conference organiser Web Summit contacting people who have made pledges on the Irish Red Cross portal, registerofpledges.redcross.ie, being run with support from the Department of Children.

As part of the vetting process, representatives of the charity will visit the accommodation to assess its condition and meet the provider, and determine the length of time the accommodation will be available.

On Tuesday, Cabinet was briefed on the risk of cyberattacks.

Ms McEntee said the National Cyber Security Centre was constantly reviewing any types of threats.

“They have been identified initially as low risk but obviously that needs to be kept under constant review.”