Renewed call for Ukrainian accommodation in Tipperary

Tipperary Co Council has made another appeal for accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

Owners of vacant houses, apartments or holiday homes, which are available for at least six months, can earn €800 per month, tax-free, through the accommodation programme advertised by the council.

The council has been assisting with the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine by sourcing temporary accommodation for those fleeing the war. To date, around 75,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland since the outbreak of the war. Tipperary Co Council has been working with key community groups in providing a number of services, including temporary rest facilities at Littleton and Clonmel, which have met the emergency accommodation needs of 1,077 newly-arrived Ukrainians.

The new arrivals are then moved to more permanent accommodation. One of the responses by the Government to meet the accommodation needs of the Ukrainians is the pledging process, through which members of the public are invited to pledge either vacant or shared accommodation to meet this need.

Tipperary Co Council's most recent Management Report states that the Red Cross was initially to undertake this task but found it “quite challenging”.

“County councils were then requested to support this process, which involved inspecting properties, engaging with owners and matching persons/families to the accommodation offered,” the report states.

“As part of the initial Red Cross pledging process, 377 properties were made available by property owners in Tipperary. 266 of the properties offered were shared properties, and 111 were vacant properties.

“Following inspections, withdrawals, inability to contact landlords, etc, some 95 properties were actually available and 66 (69.5%) of those properties were tenanted, providing accommodation for 214 Ukrainians. The majority of the remaining properties not tenanted were located in areas that are not on a viable transport route, and this matter is currently under consideration with a view to making such properties accessible.”

SECOND PLEDGING PROCESS

A second pledging process, administered and wholly-managed by local authorities, commenced at the end of November. Named ‘Offer a Home’, this process involved a call for vacant properties only. By the end of 2022, the council had received the offer of 42 vacant properties, all of which were assessed and inspected. All units available for occupation have been tenanted.

Other offers are still coming through and are being assessed and tenanted as they come in, ahead of this most recent call for accommodation.

“Housing staff also actively engage with commercial operators in the county, who are currently housing Ukrainians, in terms of ensuring that the residents are afforded opportunities to integrate into the community,” the management report states. “To date, there are 19 such commercial operators in the county.”

The council is also supporting the Department of Housing in identifying appropriate properties that could be refurbished to accommodate additional refugees on an interim basis. The local authority is also working closely with other agencies, such as the HSE, Department of Social Protection, gardaí, education providers and local development companies, in assisting the housed families and Ukrainians in general to integrate with local communities, and to access the necessary health, educational and other supports. CEO of the council Joe MacGrath convenes a Community Forum Group, which meets monthly and includes all the relevant agencies, to track and ensure the provision of support and integration services for the Ukrainians.

The management report also refers to the use of modular accommodation for Ukrainians. Thurles was identified as one of five initial sites across the country for the provision of modular-type homes on public-owned land.

The OPW intends to provide 62 such homes on its site at Gortataggart, Thurles.

Work was commenced on the site in 2022 and it is hoped that tenants will be on site by June of this year.

Property owners in a position to provide vacant accommodation can visit offerahome.ie or contact the council directly.