Local councils have been slammed for banning council housing tenants from hosting Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war zone.
Labour TD Ged Nash said it was red tape “madness” that won’t allow council houses to be used and that the ban needs to be scrapped immediately.
It is currently seeing potentially thousands of homes that the Government desperately needs to house Ukrainians excluded from the national effort because it would be in breach of individual tenancy agreements.
It could have the knock-on effect of seeing more Ukrainians have to live in overflow warehouses or tents because of the lack of housing.
Tenants want to do their bit to help the tens and thousands of Ukrainian women and children that are arriving at our shores looking for safe harbour from the barbaric Russian invasion.
One family, the McGahons from Louth, were looking forward to welcoming Artem and his seven year old son Seryozha into their home next week.
The father and son are from the besieged city of Mariupol and Artem lost his wife - and Seryozha his mother - in a Russian bombing blitz last month.
But the Irish Mirror has discovered that the kind-hearted Irish hosts are being told they will be breaking their tenancy agreements if they try to take in Ukrainians.
Ms McGahon told the Irish Mirror: “these people are crying out for help.
“But when we asked the council that we wanted to help, we were told ‘the answer is no, you don’t own the house and you can’t sublet,’ it’s absolutely crazy.”
Ged Nash, told the Irish Mirror the stupid ban on people helping out by sharing their homes shows “heartless madness” from “pen pushers” and council bureaucrats.
The mass exodus of up to 10million Ukrainains who have been bombed out of their homes is the greates humaniarian crisis facing Europe since World war II.
Government ministers have been briefed that we will see up to 32,000 Ukrainians here by this coming weekend.
However, we are desperately running out of space to host the traumatised war refugees, who are mainly women and children as the majority of men have stayed in Ukraine to fight.
There have been more than 20,000 offers of homes to the Irish Red Cross, but when these are all assessed the Government believes up to 60% of them may be unsuitable.
The Government has also secured 4,000 hotel rooms with nearly 10,000 beds.
There are also an unknown number of people - like the McGahons - who wish to provide their accommodation independently.
But even with all of these beds secured, we are still facing a massive shortfall as the Russian war rages and thousands more Ukrainians continue to arrive here every week.
Ms McGahon said: “the answer outright from the council was no, we didn’t own our house and we weren’t allowed sublet a room.
“I explained, I’m not looking to sublet the room, I’m not looking for rent for the room, what I’m trying to do is take a chap in and his son and help them get back on their feet.
“I don’t have loads of money, I’m not looking to take in the whole world, I just want to help somebody and the answer was still a flat no.
“This man has two injured legs, lost his wife and all he wants to do is come to Ireland, it’s his dream to work.”
She added: “I also feel it’s discrimination on a certain level, I was made to feel like I was nobody.”
Mr Nash added: “in these circumstances, Europe is at war, Ireland is expected, and should, accommodate up to 200,000 refugees and every single piece of accommodation should be used and the local authorities need to understand that.”
A spokesman for the Department of Housing defended the actions of the local authorities, but he said they would now be written to to urge flexibility in the face of the worsening crisis.
He said: “The Government is committed to delivering a humanitarian response to welcome people fleeing the war in Ukraine and seeking protection in Ireland as part of the EU response.
“As part of its response, Government is providing accommodation through the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) and is working closely with Local Authorities to provide accommodation for Ukrainian arrivals in a variety of settings.”
He added: “Government is working to ensure local capacity, resources and knowledge are brought to bear on the overall humanitarian response.
“In this regard, my Department has recently written to local authorities requesting they take the necessary steps to allow social housing tenants, who wish to do so, participate in the Irish Red Cross pledge scheme.”
Louth County Council was contacted for comment.
Family left without house after council intervention
Artem lost his wife and his son Seryozha, 7, lost his mother during a barbaric Russian bombing blitz of their village near Mariupol last month.
They were ready to join the McGahon family here on April 15th, but that is now up in the air because of the council’s refusal.
Here is an extract from some of the facebook correspondence between Artem and Moira.
“My name is Artem. I’m from Ukraine, Ilive in Mariupol, the village of Old Crimea. Before the war, I had a wonderful family and a happy life. But now everything is destroyed. First on 05.03.2022 a shell flew into my house and partially destroyed it. We hid in the basement of the house and that’s the only reason we survived.
“And on 09.03.2022 I went with my family to a school where humanitarian aid was issued, since there was nothing to eat,all the stores were either closed or destroyed. Right on the doorstep of the school, a shell came into our place, my beloved wife died on the spot, she tore up in front of our eyes. My son and I were injured. Soldiers brought us to hospital. My life is ruined. I was left without a wife- and my son of seven years was without a mother. She was 31 years old.”
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