Only 900 Ukrainians live in mortgaged accommodation – despite over 9,000 ready-to-occupy houses

More than 9,000 homes have been cleared by the Irish Red Cross to take in Ukrainian refugees, but so far only 900 Ukrainians are living in those homes, the Irish Red Cross (IRC) said.

The charity has cleared more than 3,000 vacant housing offers and 6,000 joint pledges, but fewer than 1,000 Ukrainians have been housed there by local authorities and NGOs under the guidance of the Ministry for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth nearly three months after the war began.

More than 28,000 Ukrainians have sought refuge in Ireland since the conflict erupted in late February, most of them looking for shelter.

Liam O’Dwyer, IRC Secretary-General, said the process of housing refugees is “more complex than it appears”.

“You might think it’s just about putting people in a house, but it’s not. The house needs to be looked at…there needs to be a meeting between family and refugees…there may be problems at school or at work.

“All this work has to go on before people are placed. I think people will see that [faster placings] in the coming weeks the local authorities will have lists of people and cleared commitments. They are now making the contacts and bringing people in,” Mr O’Dwyer said on Morning Ireland.

Mr O’Dwyer acknowledged the frustration of people who have promised shared accommodation but have not heard from the Red Cross. He said this is because initial efforts have focused on vacant apartments as “they can accommodate more people”.

“We also recognized that joint pledges would require a Garda review, which we are now addressing,” Mr O’Dwyer said.

More than 6,600 people who originally promised shelter for refugees are now unreachable, he said.

The Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Inclusion and Youth has been contacted by Independent.ie for comment.