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LAST UPDATE | 26 Apr 2022
A NEW CABINET sub-committee in response to the Ukrainian crisis is to be constituted by the government that will focus on the housing of refugees.
The dedicated sub-committee will consist of the three coalition leaders, with senior officials from relevant departments also supporting the work of the committee.
Cabinet committees operate on specific issues relating to government priorities, with Brexit and Covid-19 among the other sub-committees that are in place.
The new group will oversee the government’s response to the crisis in Ukraine, focusing on housing the thousands of refugees arriving in Ireland. The sub-committee will also decide upon key economic responses to the crisis such as energy prices and supply issues.
Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath said the government is preparing to spend around €3 billion in 2023 on welcoming and supporting those arriving from the war-torn country.
McGrath said the “primary focus” of Cabinet discussions today will be accommodation for refugees.
He said ministers will be “looking at all of the options that are available to Government to find accommodation as quickly as possible”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said today that the government will do “everything we possibly can” to provide for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland.
Speaking this morning on his way into a Cabinet meeting, Martin said he had met refugees over the weekend.
“Their gratitude to the kindness of the people of Ireland was heartfelt,” he said.
“This is a horrific war that is having a terrible toll on families and, in a shared humanity, we must do everything we possibly can within our energies and with our resources to do what we can.
“We want this war to end; it should end, because too much life has been lost.”
Around 25,000 Ukrainian refugees have now arrived in the Republic of Ireland, putting pressure on the Government to find housing and accommodation.
Mass and emergency accommodation centres have already started to be used.
Speaking today, Social Democrats housing spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan TD said that there should be “a very strong call’ for the use of holiday homes to assist the crisis.
“There are 62,000 holiday homes in the country, a lot of those underutilised. A cohort of those are rented out on short term letting platforms and are in use over the summer. Another cohort of then are ready to use, they’re in walk in condition and would only be in use for a couple of weeks by the owner,” he told reporters this morning.
“What we should be doing is having a very strong call for those underutilised holiday homes, trying to get them into use and that needs to be accompanied with supports and compensation for wear and tear.”
O’Callaghan said that there had been discussions about a such a payment but that “we’re still waiting for concrete details.
In Census 2016, some 62,148 unoccupied holiday homes were recorded, averaging 2,000 per local authority.
- With reporting by Press Association
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Why did we ever need planning permission for this??
@JusticeForJoe: in case a storm takes one and someone loses a head.
@JusticeForJoe: because some people thought more than 12 panels woukd be excessive and unsightly. Times have changed.
@JusticeForJoe: to keep the public servants in employment. A pencil pushing exercise
Getting planning permission in Ireland depends very much on who is in charge of looking at it and what humour they are in on the day. We tried 3 separate designs for a sunroom and were turned down for them all. Then we met with the planners, got angry with them for being evasive and next thing you know they decided to approve our very first design.
@François Pignon: you forgot the brown envelope
@François Pignon: So they rejected three of your designs and then approved your first design?
@François Pignon:
Todays planners can’t read or interpret actual 2D drawings anymore, much less use a scale rule. They need 3D pictures these days and still won’t visit a site to meet with the applicant. That alone would save so much time.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: totally agree, it makes all the difference, but I still can’t do it! They’re so corrupt!
Shame we can’t get solar tiles here.
@Sequoia: they don’t work so probably a good thing
@Craic_a_tower: Teslas solar roof is widely accepted as a quality solar roof tile installation. They do indeed work. They just have far more limited fitment options than traditional solar.
@Sequoia: brilliant suggestion, only spoke about EV Tiles yesterday.
Apartment owners very much restricted from installing solar panels as roofs are common areas and therefore do not belong to the apartment owner.
@Dermot Cronin: Owners of apartment buildings should be legally obliged to install them, even though the savings per apartment would be minimal
@Dermot Cronin: well if you’ve no roof you can’t install solar yes that stands to reason.
@JusticeForJoe: Because they are closer to the sun?
@JusticeForJoe: apartments are already more efficient per sq foot than most houses. Roof space per dwelling in apt blocks would generally be much smaller than houses, this gets worse the more floors up you go.
Would love to hear your rationale as to legally forcing apartment owners to fit them, however I suspect you have not thought it through in any detail.
@Sean: The roof of a 4 apartment duplex could easily facilitate solar panels.
Lease and other legal restrictions can be overcome but it is a very cumbersome process.
Well done, keep the common sense decisions coming and keep reporting them.
Is there still a 50cm limit needed from edge of the roof?
@FlyingHaggis: yes I believe that is a health and safety requirement.
It proves that if they really wanted, politicians could easily change regulations when it comes to building/planning applications.
have your say