With families across Ireland pledging accommodation to Ukrainian refugees, Claire Byrne had a Q&A with Liam O'Dwyer, Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross to give people an idea about what to expect from the process.
They covered practical issues like finance, home facilities and Garda vetting. Also speaking on Today with Claire Byrne was Nataliya Martynenko, originally from Kharkiv but living in Ireland for over 20 years. Nataliya spoke about her plans to travel to Romania soon to collect family members and she offered her perspective on the needs of people arriving into Ireland from Ukraine.
Liam O’Dwyer of the Irish Red Cross says that Irish people have shown strong support for the Ukrainian people during the current crisis. He says that almost €15 million has been donated to the Red Cross appeal by private citizens and the Irish business community. When it comes to numbers of people pledging accommodation, Liam says the response has been amazing:
"We’re up to 13,400 and we know there’s more in the system, because our phones have also been inundated."
The Irish Red Cross has successfully placed refugees with Irish families in the past, but Liam says that the sheer numbers of pledges to house Ukrainian refugees are enormous:
"This is way beyond what we could have imagined and it really indicates how strongly Irish people feel about this situation."
As a result of the large numbers, the Red Cross teams processing the pledges are very busy, Liam says. Every offer of accommodation will be followed up with a phone call, he says, but it has to be done in the right way.
"I think people need to be patient. When you look at the volume of the number of people who have pledged, it will take us some time to go back to everyone and we will go back to everyone, and that’s why we’ve a team there to ensure that that happens and happens properly."
Claire put a question to Liam from a listener: Is the Red Cross accepting pledges from every county? Liam says yes, they are open to offers from all counties. There may be issues with placing families in parts of the country that are badly served by public transport, he says, but that may or may not arise depending on the demand for housing.
Claire raised the question of Garda vetting of hosts. Liam says the Irish Red Cross is talking to TUSLA about it and their discussions are ongoing. He says that the advice given back when they were placing Syrian refugees in Ireland, was that the Irish hosts did not need to be Garda vetted:
"I had a conversation with a person in TUSLA this morning. But we sought advice on this matter when Syrians were coming here and the advice was that the parent is the guardian of the child; so that when you’re placing someone, a mother, father or a mother and her daughter or whatever, that the mother is the guardian of the child, and once the parent is there, that’s not a Garda vetting situation. At the same time, we have asked again, just to be sure."
Claire suggested that refugees who are parents and guardians of children may themselves be traumatised by their experiences and in need of extra supports. Liam agreed that this is something that needs to be taken into account by prospective hosts:
"I think that people need to be aware that while people will have been very resilient in themselves to get themselves out of that awful situation that they have been in and to make their way here, they will have been traumatised. Many will have been seriously traumatised by what they have experienced, and I think it’s important for pledgers and other people just to be aware of that."
Another listener raised the question of financial support. Liam says that while there is no automatic financial support being offered to pledgers, they are not expected to incur any costs:
"There should be no costs for the hosts. So, any cost that the host requires in terms of ESB bills or anything like that, they can all be covered. They’ll be covered by the family who are coming in, and if there are issues regarding that, with money up front immediately; that will be supported by ourselves."
Liam explains Ukrainian refugees will be offered the same social welfare benefits as any EU citizen, from the time they arrive in Dublin Airport. Things take time to settle down, and he says the Red Cross can assist on a temporary basis, where necessary.
Claire asked Liam if mediation will be available in the case of difficulties, either at the start or down the line? Liam says that they have a team in place to take care of that and they are co-operating with other organisations as well:
"We have staff who do that work. We always introduce a family to the pledger family, and that is the normal procedure that we follow. And just to say, there are other organisations who are helping with that as well, who have case workers themselves, who will be taking on some of this work."
Claire asked Kharkiv native Natalia Martynenko for her thoughts. Natalia is planning to travel to Romania in the next few days to bring her elderly mother and sister, who are also fleeing their home country, back to live with her in Ireland. Natalia says that refugees need what anyone would need when they find themselves far from home:
"The urgent requirement is warmth, basically. Just to be warm and welcomed."
Liam O’Dwyer talks about how people can pledge goods and services, if hosting is not an option in the full interview with Claire Byrne here.
There's more information here on how to pledge empty accommodation to the Irish Red Cross or to host refugees in your own home.
Donations to the Irish Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal can be made here.
