COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, February 13, 2023

QUESTION NO. 10

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the CEO to update members on his ongoing endeavours in respect of facilitating people from Ukraine in our County and will he make a statement?

REPLY:

The Community Response Forum, chaired by the Council's Chief Executive and comprising representatives from the Council, HSE, TUSLA, Civil Defence, An Garda, DDLETB, South Dublin Volunteer Centre, Youth Services, South Dublin County Partnership and other agencies, continues to meet on a regular basis to highlight emergency response needs and seeks to find solutions within the capacity of the agencies represented.  The forum is also attended regularly by representatives from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) who are the lead Government Department dealing with all refugee and asylum applications and accommodation matters.

The Council also works in partnership with key agencies to deliver direct supports to those living in emergency accommodation across the county and does this by working closely with dedicated teams within the South Dublin County Partnership and South Dublin Volunteer Centre. Key evidence-based areas of need are identified by this group using interviews and surveys with residents in emergency accommodation and from this feedback solutions and responses are developed in response.  Urgent issues arising in areas such as social welfare, health, educational and material can be supported quickly and effectively in most cases.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has responsibility for providing accommodation for beneficiaries of temporary protection arriving from Ukraine and, indeed, those arriving from elsewhere seeking international protection. Local authorities have been supporting the Department in this for their areas where possible including examining potential suitable accommodation, including identifying potentially vacant buildings.  In addition, in November 2022, local authorities launched the ‘Offer a Home’ programme through which the public can offer vacant homes for use by Ukrainians. The accommodation is not provided by the local authority, but local authorities assess the accommodation offered and facilitate arrangements between the owner of the property and the Ukrainian beneficiaries but to date there has been extremely limited offers in South Dublin County under the "Offer a Home" initiative.

Various recent additional funding streams, including through Healthy Ireland, SICAP and the Council, have been put in place to offer further augmented supports to Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection, and also international protection applicants where funding conditions allow, including for their social integration in the County over the coming months.  The most recently announced Community Recognition Fund, through the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD), aims to support the development of community infrastructure and facilities in recognition of the contribution being made by communities across the country in welcoming and hosting significant numbers of arrivals from Ukraine and other countries.  It can fund community, sporting, recreational infrastructure and equipment (but excluding any operational/running costs) in local communities with new arrivals, i.e. both Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection and international protection applicants.  This funding has been distributed across all local authorities based on the number of new arrivals located there, including relative to the overall population in that area.  This Council has been allocated €2,754,305 under the fund, which is the fourth-highest allocation nationally.

Proposals for funding must be developed based on direct engagement with impacted communities and in consultation with the Area Committees, Local Community Development Committee and the local Community Response Forum and be consistent with the Local Economic and Community Plan.  It should be noted that the conditions of the fund are challenging with proposals to be submitted to the DRCD no later than 15th March 2023 and approved projects must spend 60% of their allocated budget in 2023 but various sections of the Council, together with local agencies and communities, will seek to develop appropriate proposals for submission to DRCD.