SIGNIFICANT CUTS TO support for Ukrainian refugees and the international protection system have been done “sensitively” and not resulted in homelessness of Ukrainian people, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said today. 

Speaking at the Department of Justice’s post-budget press conference this morning, O’Callaghan said savings of €682 million will be made next year across international protection accommodation and accommodation for Ukrainian refugees in receipt of temporary protection.

The budget allocated to accommodation for Ukrainian people in receipt of temporary protection has dropped significantly in recent years, from €1.16 billion in 2024 to €606 million this year.

The allocation for 2027 is “in the region” of €177 million, O’Callaghan said today. 

Meanwhile, the budget for international protection accommodation has also been cut, from €1.27 billion in 2025 to an allocation of just under €1 billion for 2027. 

“Those reductions in costs have been achieved through difficult reforms that Colum [Brophy] and I have introduced as policies, but they’ve also been done sensitively and methodically.

“And I’m pleased to say they have not resulted in, what some people thought may happen, homelessness of Ukrainian people in the area,” O’Callaghan said. 

Speaking alongside the justice minister, Brophy, who is the junior minister with responsibility for migration, said the savings on the “Ukrainian side” are “not resulting in any particular way in hardship to the Ukrainian community”. 

He added that Ukrainians in Ireland are now “very integrated” and noted that there will be a series of programmes introduced next year which will enable Ukrainians who wish to return to Ukraine to do so. 

The latest data, from February 2026, shows that over 80,000 Ukrainians were resident in Ireland via the temporary beneficial protection scheme.  

Between now and the end of next month, contracts with 158 private hotels housing over 4,000 Ukrainians will be terminated by the government. 

In addition to this, the accommodation recognition payment (ARP) for private hosts accommodating 40,000 Ukrainians is set to end at the end of March 2027.

Solicitors’ strike

Elsewhere, the justice minister was also questioned about the ongoing criminal legal aid solicitors’ strike, which continues to disrupt the courts. 

On Monday, over 200 solicitors and barristers protested outside the Courts of Criminal Justice in Dublin against O’Callaghan’s reforms to the payment model for criminal legal aid. 

O’Callaghan said today that the “majority” of solicitors are proceeding with their work and he appealed to the rest to join them. 

“Unfortunately, the Law Society believes that calling for the row to be resolved means I give in to what the solicitors want, and I have made a series of concessions to the law societies presently,” he said. 

He said he wrote to the President of the Law Society earlier this week and that engagement is ongoing. 

“Just because people are striking, I’m not going to respond to that.

“I have to keep my eyes focused on what’s in the best interests of court users and the Irish public, not what’s in the best interests of politicians, or judges, or barristers, or solicitors,” O’Callaghan said. 

Youth Diversion

Meanwhile, the budget for youth diversion programmes was increased in this year’s package by €11.5 million to over €50 million. 

Junior Minister with responsibility for youth justice, Catherine Ardagh, noted today that a new step-down project for teenagers leaving the Oberstown detention centre will be introduced to help integrate them into the community.

“This year has seen full national coverage achieved for Youth Diversion Programmes for the first time. These programmes play a crucial role in diverting at risk young people away from the bad choices that lead them into the criminal justice system,” Ardagh said today.