A GRASSROOTS SCHEME that was contracted to help provide accommodation to Ukrainian people in Ireland has said that its contract with the Irish Red Cross has not been renewed. 

The group, Helping Irish Hosts, says it fears that exploitation of both hosts and Ukrainian people could rise as a result. 

Helping Irish Hosts was formed by a group of hosts in response to the crisis that arose following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

For 18 months it has operated a hotline that gave advice to hosts and temporary protection beneficiaries in Ireland and received more than 80 calls a day on average. 

They also helped Ukrainians and hosts to connect and provided ongoing supports and resources to people living in Ireland under hosting arrangements.

Angie Gough, the CEO and founder of the organisation, told The Journal that Helping Irish Hosts had made the case to continue on its work as the number of payments being made to households under the scheme is at its highest level ever. 

“We had 26 people working part-time and a hotline that operated for 40 hours a week. We are still operating that for two hours a week on a voluntary basis. We were working on a scale equivalent to the National Women’s Council, and had an average of 85 calls a day. The demand didn’t go, but that hotline is gone now,” she said. 

She said that the organisation made the case for continuing on its work due to ongoing demand but its contract was not renewed. 

The Irish Red Cross told The Journal that the charity is the lead service provider for the Ukraine Pledged Accommodation Programme and that it operates the programme under “specific direction” from the Department of Justice. 

A spokesperson said that earlier this year, Helping Irish Hosts shared its desire for a “strategic shift in the programme”, adding “which is their right”. 

“This change did not align with the agreed direction of the programme. The programme’s scope of work and funding remain unchanged,” the Irish Red Cross added. 

It said that it wants to acknowledge the work Helping Irish Hosts has done in placing people in accommodation and supporting their placements.

The Department of Justice has allocated €4,538,506 to the Irish Red Cross for 2025 for providing supports including the management of accommodation pledged by the Irish public. 

The Department of Justice said that the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme is being administered by the Department of Social Protection on its behalf and that while the Irish Red Cross has no role in the administration of that scheme, it is contracted to support the State’s humanitarian response to the Ukraine crisis. 

“The Department has funded the Irish Red Cross to deliver a programme of accommodation and integration supports for those who fled the war in Ukraine,” a spokesperson said. 

They added that information on the amount of funding provided to the Irish Red Cross in previous years is not available. 

Last month The Journal reported that there has been a considerable rise in the numbers involved in the scheme. Since January of this year, an additional 3,125 payments have been made to property owners. 

At the same time, the Government has ended contracts with over one hundred accommodation centres that have returned to their original use, which has led to Ukrainian people seeking hosted accommodation in areas where they have integrated over the last two years. 

Sinn Féin has called for a review of the scheme. Gough has previously stated that a rise in the number of ‘solo hosts’ who are not arranging their accommodation through the Irish Red Cross register of pledged accommodation means that there is now more room for both hosts and Ukrainians to be exploited. 

In cases that Helping Irish Hosts dealt with in the past, Ukrainian people were being charged rent and excessive ‘top-up payments’ despite property owners receiving payments under the scheme. 

“People opt to go outside of the scheme and make their own arrangements as they feel that the scheme is too onerous and there can be a lack of response from agencies involved, and it will be worse now that we aren’t there in that space. 

“We could see the rise in independent hosts from early doors, and it was matched in the amount of difficult cases we would see, because we were the only ones servicing that space,” Gough said. 

She said that the landscape for hosting has changed in Ireland and that “opportunities have been lost” in terms of widening the scheme out and offering it to people who want to host refugees from countries like Palestine and Afghanistan. 

“How the Government thinks that everybody can be accommodated in people’s homes indefinitely without support and resources and someone helping them to identify clear pathways forward, I don’t know,” she added.