Ukranian Accommodation Recognition Payment Scheme- €800pm Ending or being renewed by Govt?

Has there been any clarification if the Accomodation Recognition Payment Scheme is going to be extended past March 2025?

To clarify this relates to the 800 euro payment made monthly by the DSW to people who let properties or rooms to Ukranian refugees.

A similarish scheme (hotels, Govt buildings and student accommodation) made available by Govt has been withdrawn recently.

Red Cross completely in dark when I spoke with them after Christmas.Seems odd that this is running right down to the wire.

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The EU recently extended the Temporary Protection Directive until March 2026.

I would say this would mean it is likely the government will extend the ARP scheme.

Over 16,000 Ukrainians are being housed under the ARP so it would not seem to make sense for it to end as the government will be obliged to rehouse them, probably at much greater cost.

Expect an announcement next month.

Persia said:

A similarish scheme (hotels, Govt buildings and student accommodation) made available by Govt has been withdrawn recently.

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Are you sure about this? Any links? There are certainly a number of cases where individual arrangements have ended but I'm not aware of their total withdrawal.

llgon said:

Are you sure about this? Any links? There are certainly a number of cases where individual arrangements have ended but I'm not aware of their total withdrawal.

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According to that article 15,000 had to move last year, some possibly to other hotels and guesthouses. But there are still 28,000 Ukrainians living in hotels and guesthouses under the scheme. There is a winding down in place but I don't see any evidence the scheme has been withdrawn recently.

Good point, have tried searching repeatedly for news on it but can't seem to find anything but convinced it was in news last week.

Decision “in the next couple of weeks”

Will likely be part of slot between 1 and 2 today on RTE radio 1

I listened back to that piece on last Sunday’s (2 Feb) This Week. The person from the Irish Red Cross gave some interesting detail.

There are 19,000 properties hosting the 36,000 refugees. A Red Cross survey, showed that 91% of respondents replied that the properties hosting had not previously been rented. It, however, had a small response rate. There seems to be a concern that full properties that might otherwise be let are being offered under the scheme. But, there doesn't seem to be any information available on that.

I think that there is little likelihood of the €800 payment being stopped, at least not in full. The Ukraine refugees are somewhat unique; most are women, a significant number accompanied by children and others are elderly. From what I see, many of the working age people are in employment, but tend to be in lower paid jobs. So if they cease in their accommodation, they will probably be eligible for other housing assistance payments. I don’t think many are planning to leave Ireland in the event of any change. Admittedly, the cost to the State would probably be lower and landlords would be taxable on the income. But the savings are not likely to be huge.

The RC representative mentioned that this could serve as a model for other cohorts. I think that the Ukrainian scheme is a bit like the rent a room scheme except limited to Ukrainians. The country is seriously short of houses and apartments to buy and rent, but one thing that that it’s not short of is bedrooms and incentivising people to let bedrooms is worthwhile; a bit like ‘digs’, in days gone by. Of course, many people with spare bedrooms seem not to be the ones that need extra cash, and those that tend to need it have smaller properties.

The ARP decision will be interesting to watch for any significant change in the stance of the incoming government on immigration with the Green element replaced; some property owners hosting are probably motivated by 'compassion' as much as by financial considerations, so any change may not have a huge impact.

I didn't catch the radio programme - is there still a demand for self contained accommodation specifically for Ukrainians?

Not sure.

The Red Cross would be the only ones in a position to answer that.

There are a lot living in hotels etc with kids and that's just no way to live long term.

On that basis, Intuitively would suppose that there is demand for self contained accomodation.

The Minister provided some statistics about the €800 payment today, as reported in the Irish Times

Separately, Mr Foley told Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy in another written Dáil reply that since the start of 2022, €239 million has been paid out by the State to 22,399 accommodation providers here for accommodating 49,840 Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) in a programme aimed at accommodating Ukrainians.

The €239 million payout is through an Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) which is a monthly payment of €800 available to those who are providing accommodation to a person or people who arrived in Ireland under the EU Temporary Protection Directive.

Ms Foley stated that , more than 15,500 hosts are accommodating almost 36,000 BOTPs in over 19,000 accommodations.

The figures provided by Ms Foley show that Dublin has the highest number of people receiving the ARP at 4,518 followed by Cork 1,828, Donegal 1,305, Mayo 1,266, Galway 1,133, Kildare 1,029 and Kerry 1,022.

I hadn’t realised that the Integration element of Government had moved to Norma Foley’s Department not to the Department of Justice and Migration.

I wonder will it take as long to phase out the €800 payment to households as it is taking with phasing out the Leaving Cert inflated marks which was the responsibility of the same Minister until the recent change of Government. The €800 payment could last in some form for a while yet!

MINISTER FOR MIGRATION Jim O’Callaghan said this afternoon that changes “will be made” in respect of the payment scheme currently in place for hosting Ukrainian refugees.

The decision will be made by the end of the month, he said.

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Wonder what the "changes" will be? They are certainly dragging this uncertainty out to the last minute.

If the war ends will they still be refugees?

‘Too many’ unentitled asylum applicants, says Minister, signalling cut in supports


"The ARP is being reviewed by the Department of Justice, which is taking responsibility for immigration and integration, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Public Expenditure. It is understood the review will propose to reduce the monthly payment."

"Three quarters of hosts say they cannot continue supporting Ukrainians if the Government reduces the payment, according to research from the Helping Irish Hosts (HIH) grassroots non-profit company.

The onus to move guests on will not lie with policymakers but with hosts, said Angie Gough, HIH co-founder and chief executive.
She said the ARP was “far cheaper” than relying on private contractors for emergency accommodation and saves between €1-€2 million each day on current immigration spending."

Persia said:

"Three quarters of hosts say they cannot continue supporting Ukrainians if the Government reduces the payment, according to research from the Helping Irish Hosts (HIH) grassroots non-profit company.

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I think that the intent of the scheme is good and works well but HiH, who seem to be well regarded, need to be careful with a statement on the lines that €800 (tax free) is needed for a household to continue hosting. €800 should be quite sufficient.

Where a rental property is fully let to Ukrainians, perhaps €800 net, might be needed to justify continuing. But I don’t think there is any information on how many of these properties there are.

Changes look very likely in term of the level of payment. Prior to the end of 2022, the rate was €400 per month. Many Ukrainians would qualify for some housing assistance payments, if not being hosted under the Scheme. The Government could try to do something by reference to HAP rates or the old rate; about a third of the households are in Dublin and Cork, so that would still be a fairly sizeable payment, if referencing HAP rates.

Persia said:

"The ARP is being reviewed by the Department of Justice, which is taking responsibility for immigration and integration, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Public Expenditure. It is understood the review will propose to reduce the monthly payment."

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I listened back to his interview and Jim O’ Callaghan was very definite to say that say that it was Norma Foley’s Department that had responsibility.

Changes ‘likely on way’ to monthly €800 payment for hosting Ukrainian refugees


Nothing new here really.

"There will likely be changes to the monthly €800 payment for those hosting Ukrainian refugees with an announcement due shortly, according to Minister for Integration Norma Foley.

Ms Foley said the issue was being dealt with and required engagement with the Department of Justice. The Fianna Fáil TD said she would not “pre-empt” the decision but was conscious that the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme is due to expire on March 31st."

“There will be an announcement in relation to that in the very short term.”

Ms Foley also said that “anyone is entitled at any point to seek asylum” but there were systems in place to ensure that if they were verified and justified they would remain in the State and if not, “they will leave”.