Ireland may opt to pay instead of accepting more refugees under EU deal, Varadkar says

Ireland may opt to give financial contributions to help frontline European Union member states that are dealing with a large number of people arriving irregularly and claiming asylum, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has suggested.

Under a new EU migration reform currently under negotiation, countries would be asked to help frontline border states by either volunteering to take in asylum seekers, helping to process their applications, or making a financial contribution to a fund to help countries such as Greece and Italy to cope.

“From Ireland’s point of view, it wouldn’t really be so much about taking a quota of refugees,” Mr Varadkar said when asked about whether Ireland would accept voluntary transfers of asylum seekers as part of the reform.

He suggested that after receiving large numbers of people from Ukraine and other parts of the world and “struggling to accommodate the numbers we already have” Ireland would be more likely to opt to pay financial contributions.

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“You can have the option of accepting refugees who are in other parts of the European Union ... or you can make a financial contribution,” Mr Varadkar said.

“I don’t think we’re really in a position to accept more voluntary transfers, not until we get on top of the accommodation situation.”

Mr Varadkar spoke on arrival to a summit of European leaders in Spain to hold discussions on support for Ukraine, migration, and the potential enlargement of the EU to add new member states.

During negotiations over the summer, diplomats haggled over what the financial contributions of member states that decline to accept asylum seekers should be.

It was suggested that countries could pay a figure between €10,000 and €22,000 per asylum seeker they decline to accept, with different countries arguing for different levels.

The number of migrants would depend on future arrivals to frontline states. The proportion per member state would likely be calculated according to country size.

These details remain to be worked out in coming negotiations between EU countries and the European Parliament.

[ US gives Ukraine 1.1m rounds of ammunition amid fears over waning support from West ]

Mr Varadkar threw his backing behind Ukraine’s hopes that membership negotiations should begin by the end of this year.

“Enlargement is always good for Europe. It helps to provide us with security, helps to embed democracy and human rights, and also helps the European economy to grow in the round,” he said.

Leaked calculations this week estimated a steep price for admitting Ukraine and the other hopeful membership candidates, including cuts to Common Agricultural Policy payments if current rules were unchanged.

Mr Varadkar said he expected that national contributions to the EU budget might need to increase in order to maintain CAP payments if enlargement went ahead, but that the CAP and EU budget might look very different by the time Ukraine were to join in many years time.

“I think it’s really important that when we look at these questions, we don’t see them just as a financial calculation,” he said. “If Ukraine, Moldova, the western Balkans join the European Union, they’ll become wealthier in due course, just like Ireland, they may yet become contributors to the budget.”

Asked about the upcoming budget at home, Mr Varadkar said it would include supports for people to help with electricity bills.

“The detail of that hasn’t been worked out, but what I can say is that people will get help with their electricity bills over the course of the winter,” he said.

“Electricity prices have fallen, but they’re still substantially higher than they would have been two winters ago. We understand that as a Government, and we have the money to help people with those bills, and we will.”

Mr Varadkar was to hold bilateral talks to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the meeting. They are expected to discuss the latest efforts to try to persuade the Democratic Unionist Party to return to powersharing in Stormont, as well as preparations for the Euro 2028 soccer competition for which the United Kingdom and Ireland are expected to be joint hosts.

He said he would tell Mr Sunak that Ireland is prepared to make a financial contribution to Casement Park in Belfast, which has been chosen as a venue but has become the subject of controversy as it is yet to be constructed.