Ukrainians living in Co Galway have said that changes to the supports provided to those fleeing the war are adding to the concerns they have about their welfare and that of their families here.
Ukrainian refugees who came to Ireland in 2022 and 2023, and who are in State-provided accommodation, will have their payments cut from €232 a week to €38.80, under a memo going to Cabinet.
Olha Voziian has been working as a teacher, supporting Ukrainian students who are learning English and both primary and secondary schools in the city.
She said the plan to reduce the weekly payments to those in State-provided accommodation would "have a great impact, but in a bad way".
"Kids need uniforms for school, additional food and other basic needs and €38 a week would not cover that," she added.
Ivan Cheplik said that it is not just the cost, but the services and supports people are use the money for.
His two children are attending different extra curricular classes "to socialise, to find friends and to move forward". Things, he said, which are of enormous psychological importance to them.
"They left all their friends, their whole life in Ukraine and without these [classes], I have no idea how they can make a step forward in this new experience," he added.
His partner Anna Borsuk said this reduction in financial supports will have a significant impact on families who are trying to find jobs, attend English classes and integrate into life here.
"This takes time but it also requires money" she said.
Ms Voziian said the latest developments come on top of other issues for people who have fled the war and travelled to Ireland.
She said the issue that has the most impact is the "constant relocation" with many Ukrainians having to move from one State-provided accommodation centre to another, sometimes in different parts of the country.
She said: "I work as a teacher and I see students who have settled in having to move to another school, to another place, while their parents are having to give up jobs and travel to different parts of the country.
"This is the issue that we are concerned about too."
Asked if he has noticed a shift in attitudes among Irish people towards Ukrainians since the start of the war in 2022, Mr Cheplik said: "I see people getting tired from all these things happening.
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"This war is going on much longer than we expected. i read articles almost every day that one place or another is against immigrants. They want to save their own communities.
"At some point that’s understandable but for us, we had no choice but to move, we don’t have any options."
He said his compatriots are concerned about a shift in attitudes because "if Irish people grow tired from us and stop their support, we have no idea what we’re going to do".
He added: "We can’t move back to Ukraine… only death awaits us there and we’re scared that the situation is changing.
"We want to do something but it’s not easy to understand what we can do."
