Ukrainian refugees to have welfare allowances cut in coming weeks
Updated: 11am. Additional reporting by Vivienne Clarke.
Payments to Ukrainian refugees are set to be cut within 12 weeks.
Cabinet is expected to sign off on Tuesday on moves to streamline the entitlements of all International Protection applicants and those who fled the war in Ukraine.
The provision of State accommodation has already been limited, and these latest measures will see 12 weeks' notice given to those who'll be affected by the changes.
Under the revised plan, Ukrainian refugees go to designated accommodation centres for up to 90 days and are provided with food, laundry and integration support during this time.
Ireland has granted more than 105,000 temporary protection orders since the start of the war, and almost 72,000 BOTPs are in State-provided accommodation.
Arrivals had previously been entitled to a jobseeker’s allowance of €220 per week and unlimited time in State accommodation.
They will be paid a €38.80 subsistence allowance per week and an additional €29.80 per child. The changes did not apply to those who arrived before the March deadline.
'Cruel'
The cuts have been branded "cruel" by the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland.
Spokesperson Lucky Khambule said: "Remember that the allowance was once €19 for almost 15 years, then now €38, and now they are talking about reducing it.
"It looks like people that seek asylum don't live in the same place as everybody lives."
It comes as the State continues to struggle to provide accommodation for asylum seekers arriving here.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said the changes are about evaluating how the welfare and accomodation systems interact.
"Firstly, we're not just reviewing payments, we are reviewing the entire range of supports and how the State interacts.
"For example, you have many, many people have status in the country, and through the immigration system, are still living in free state accommodation without making a contribution, for example, how do you best address that situation?
"When does the obligation in relation of social welfare end in terms of the process?" Mr Harris said.
'Cold-hearted'
Responding to the proposed changes, the founder of Effective Aid Ukraine, Tom McEnaney, described the reduction in payments as "unfair, lacking in compassion and inhumane".
Speaking to RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show, Mr McEnaney said 43 per cent of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland are working, and therefore would not be affected by this measure.
"The people [who] will be affected by this are the elderly Ukrainians, and the vast majority of those that are left are women and children," he explained.
"Of the 45,000 Ukrainian people serviced accommodation, about 40 per cent of those are children. It's their mothers who are most likely not being able to work because of childcare, and so it's those 18,000 children who are most likely to be badly affected by this."
"There's no reason. What we're doing is we're moving them into a forced hardship for no tactical or strategic benefit. It's not as if any of these are going to be returning to Ukraine or somewhere else to go.
"It serves no purpose other than to garner votes from an anti-migrant cohort ahead of their local and European elections," Mr McEnaney said.
He added it is not sustainable to expect someone who has been living on €232 a week for the last number of months to now live on €32 a week in Ireland.
"Anybody who says that it's sustainable to live in Ireland on €32 a week, especially if you've got young children to mind, is just completely out of touch with what it costs to live in this country.
"We’re going from being generous to being mean and cold-hearted," McEnaney said.