A PROGRAMME TO refurbish 2,500 vacant social homes is to be accelerated to help deal with the pressure being caused by providing accommodation for Ukrainian refugees. 

The existing Voids Stimulus Programme has been in operation since July 2020, with the government saying that an investment of €40 million saw the refurbishment of 2,500 homes in its first six months. 

Fresh funding for the scheme is now being earmarked to deliver more places for Ukrainian refugees. 

This plan and others will be discussed at Cabinet tomorrow as part of Ireland’s response to the war on Ukraine and its effects here. 

It is set to include the identification of more buildings for use as emergency accommodation and the activation of stalled planning permissions. 

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien is also set to use emergency powers under the Planning Act to excempt certain planning requirements and accelerate the building of new homes. 

In recent weeks, newly arrived refugees have been overwhelmingly placed in dormitory style accommodation in community halls and sports halls rather than in hotels.

It is being estimated that by the end of May there will be between 29,000 and 33,000 people seeking accommodation.

Last week, an emergency accommodation facility in Millstreet Arena in Cork began accepting refugees, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday visiting families who were staying there. 

Speaking as part of the visit, Martin reiterated that Ireland would not be placing a cap on the number of refugees the country accepts from Ukraine. 

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“I am not contemplating caps (on refugees) – I am not talking about that. There will be challenges but we are part of a European-wide response,” he said.

First and foremost – we are not a military power – the thing we can do best is humanitarian (aid).

Last week, the Irish Red Cross confirmed that a total of 24,306 pledges for accommodation of Ukrainian refugees have been made by Irish people so far. 

Of these, 5,714 of these are vacant homes and 18,322 are shared accomodation.

The Red Cross hopes to start the rollout of the homes this week, starting with individual adults or, for example adult family members who travelled without children.

- With reporting by Olivia Kelleher