Ministers to sign-off €400-a-month payment for hosting refugees

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Senior ministers are this week expected to sign-off a monthly payment of €400 for households that take in refugees.

he Government is finalising plans for the payment which is expected to be given the green light at the first meeting of the special Cabinet sub-committee set up to deal with Ireland’s response to the Ukraine crisis.

All Cabinet ministers are then set to make a formal decision on the payment next week.

Senior Government sources confirmed to the Irish Independent that plans for the payment will be discussed on Thursday, with expectation in Government that these proposals will then go to Cabinet next Tuesday.

It is believed a blanket payment of €400 will apply to all households who take in refugees, and it will not be dependent on the number of people accepted.

The payment will aim to cover extra costs, such as increased gas or electricity bills, incurred as a result of hosting refugees.

However, senior sources also hope it will incentivise more people to open their homes to people fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

Anyone who has already taken in refugees will be able to apply for the payment as well as those who may decide to open up their homes later.

The top-level meeting will be attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, as well as foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney, finance minister Paschal Donohoe and public expenditure minister Michael McGrath.

Children’s minister Roderic O’Gorman and social protection minister Heather Humphreys, whose departments have played a key role in drawing up proposals for the payment, will also sit on the committee.

Justice minister Helen McEntee and housing minister Darragh O’Brien are also set to attend the meeting.

The new sub-committee of senior ministers will meet every couple of weeks to consider new plans on the country’s response to the war in Ukraine. 

The Government looks set to follow in the footsteps of the UK, where households agreeing to take in Ukrainian refugees will be paid £350 (€409) a month.

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