Ireland changes policy towards Ukrainians: from housing to financial incentives for return

Ireland is preparing significant changes to its policy towards Ukrainian refugees. The government plans to gradually abandon the practice of providing full housing and move to a model that is more in line with the approaches of other EU countries.

The key focus is on reducing public spending and reformatting support.

Financial incentives for return

One of the central elements of the new policy will be payments to Ukrainians for voluntary return home to Ukraine.

According to preliminary data, the following amounts are being considered:

up to 2,500 euros per person,
up to 10,000 euros per family.

These payments should become part of a long-term strategy designed to end the temporary protection mechanism in the EU in 2027.

Scale of changes

Over the next year, the authorities plan to complete state housing contracts for approximately 16,000 Ukrainians who are currently on full support.

Migration Minister Colm Brophy stressed that the country must move away from the long-term maintenance of refugees at taxpayers’ expense and find a more balanced model of support.

Why Ireland is reviewing its policy

Since the start of the full-scale war, Ireland has taken in more than 125,000 Ukrainians. At the same time, the financial burden on the budget has become significant:

hundreds of millions of euros have been spent on support programs,
more than 438 million euros on compensation for families who took in refugees,
there are monthly housing payments that are planned to be reduced.

Among the reasons for the changes:

a growing housing shortage for local residents,
the need to return hotels to the tourism sector,
optimization of public spending.