2026-03-19

5. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of contracts issued to hotels and-or guest houses to accommodate Ukrainian people, including the total number of beds, by county, at end of both February 2025 and February 2026, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20884/26]

County Clare has welcomed significant numbers of Ukrainian people fleeing the war, just as it did with Hungarian and Kosovan refugees in the past. Our communities opened their schools, organisations and workplaces to them. Now, four years on, many Ukrainians are moving on from emergency accommodation and hotel contracts are ending. Will the Minister of State confirm how many contracts have been concluded and how many beds may return to their original purpose?

As the Deputy knows, Ireland remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine. My Department continues to work as part of a whole-of-government response to the war in Ukraine with a focus on providing access to emergency, but temporary, accommodation to those fleeing the conflict. For new arrivals, State-contracted accommodation is provided for 30 days in designated centres, together with supports to assist them in making independent living arrangements for those who wish to remain for the duration of temporary protection. As of 13 March 2026, over 125,700 people have fled Ukraine and received temporary protection here. Of those, over 94,300 have requested and been provided with access to State-supported accommodation. Almost 19,200 people are currently in State-contracted accommodation. This is a significant and welcome reduction from a peak of, believe it or not, 60,000 people in November 2023. All accommodation contracts by my Department are temporary in nature. Persons with temporary protection are advised of that when requesting access to be assigned to temporary accommodation. Approximately 531 contracts are in operation. Our current contracted accommodation capacity is approximately 22,450 beds. It includes hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts. In sourcing and securing accommodation, the central consideration is the safety and security of the displaced people fleeing the war in Ukraine. In 2024 and 2025, approximately 420 and 195 contracts, respectively, were able to be terminated in terms of changes that we are making in the reduction in numbers. So far in 2026, 25 contracts have been terminated and we have received three notices from providers for termination of contracts. In relation to County Clare, as of the end of February 2025, there were 31 contracts, which was equivalent to 2,610 beds. To give the Deputy an indication, as of the end of February 2026, there were only 18 contracts, with 1,041 beds, representing a very significant return of beds from this area. Additional information not given on the floor of the House With this reply, I am providing the Deputy as requested with a table that shows the number of contracts and beds by county at the end of February 2025 and end February 2026. *Please note that the figure for Dublin includes Citywest with 1,704 beds.

I thank the Minister of State for the reply and welcome the reduction in the hotel contracts. This is a positive step, showing that many people are moving on from emergency accommodation by finding homes, entering work and moving elsewhere. We should recognise the support of Clare communities and the contribution many Ukrainians have made in return. Hotels returning to serving visitors is an important opportunity for tourism and the hospitality sector. It will support local businesses, boost occupancy and protect jobs, which is important. Will the Minister of State provide data on how many businesses have exited contracts and are now operating again as tourist accommodation?

I have supplied the Deputy as part of my answer to him a table in tabular form with all the information for every county. I have outlined the total figures to him. It is important to recognise that, as part of an ongoing process, we are moving toward a reduction and eventual elimination of this accommodation situation. There will be a motion coming forward in the Dáil next week regarding the extension of the accommodation recognition payment, ARP. Temporary protection is something that was brought in by the European Commission across Europe, and we wanted to support it in that. As we look to the future and changes in that area, though, we want to see businesses going back to what they were doing originally and having the ability to put beds and accommodation back into local communities for the benefit of those local communities and areas.

Clare has lost thousands of tourist bed nights each month over the past four years, with the vast majority in north and west Clare, where tourism is a key part of the local economy. While I understand that tourism is not directly within the Minister of State's brief, the return of this bed stock is both vital and important. It must be managed to ensure that it delivers the maximum benefit quickly. Will the Minister of State outline whether there is any engagement with local authorities, Fáilte Ireland or Tourism Ireland to make the most of this capacity returning to the market? Are any targeted promotional campaigns planned to boost visitor numbers, where returning to our capacity will make a real and welcome difference?

Obviously, that is not within my area. That would be more within the area of the Minister with responsibility on the tourism side. From our point of view as a Department, what we want to do is facilitate the return of beds to the sector so that they are there and available. Like the Deputy, I would like to see, particularly in a wonderful county like Clare, that those beds would go back into the accommodation, tourism and hospitality sectors. Hospitality and tourism are key drivers for economics in a whole host of counties in our country and are very important. Therefore, as an initial stage, what we are doing here is making the beds available again by terminating the contracts and moving out of this area. I would hope, therefore, that in conjunction with the local authorities, the necessary tourism boards would put in place a process to ensure that those beds go back into hospitality.