The Department of Integration has said it is taking immediate action to reduce the number of contracts in place specifically for people fleeing the war in Ukraine in order to return accommodation to the private sector (e.g. tourism) where possible, saying it wishes to ensure value for money and greater oversight.
This means that significant numbers of people who have been granted temporary protection in Ireland, will be moved to other locations over the next months.
A briefing note supplied by the Department to public representatives and seen by Gript also states that although the Department will write to providers informing them it is ending the contract, “some providers do not cooperate in providing this information to people in their accommodation, depriving them of the opportunity to make their own arrangements.”
The Briefing note goes on to note that the Department is “no longer procuring commercial accommodation, and offers of extra beds in existing properties, or offers of new properties cannot be accepted.”
The Department claims that in recent months, Ireland has seen decreases in the number of people arriving from Ukraine.
Added to that, greater numbers are choosing to move on from State accommodation. It says the Government also introduced a policy of providing a maximum of 90 days accommodation to all new arrivals post March 14 2024 in order to make our offering more sustainable in the longer-term.
This means that “very few new arrivals, with the exception of the most vulnerable cases, are being placed in the Department’s existing accommodation settings. As a result of this, the Department will be ending contracts that we no longer need with short-term accommodation providers over the next few months, for the following reasons:
To reduce the total number of contracts in place specifically for people from Ukraine who have been granted temporary protection, to return accommodation to the private sector where possible (for example, allowing hospitality providers to resume business in the tourism sector) and to ensure better oversight and better value for money.”
What are Compliance Concerns?
This reduction will focus first on ending contracts where there are compliance concerns. Compliance concerns arise when a provider is not meeting the required contracted standards of service. Since June 2023, a dedicated Compliance team in the Department has been reviewing accommodation to ensure that all providers comply with contractual terms, as well as investigating reported incidents and complaints.
Compliance concerns include, but are not limited to:
What are other reasons for ending contracts?
The Department says it is is aware that some providers who offered their accommodation to the State as part of the humanitarian response to the invasion of Ukraine were originally operating in tourism.
As part of the overall reduction in the number of contracts that the Department holds, contracts with providers who were previously involved in the tourism sector will be ended. This will allow some of those beds to return the tourism sector, if the provider wishes to do so.
“It is not planned at this time that any of these properties that we are vacating will be contracted to provide accommodation to International Protection applicants.”
What is the scale of the situation currently?
“At the moment there are over 900 properties potentially providing accommodation to over 35,000 people who are beneficiaries of temporary protection.”