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05 Sept 2025
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05 Sept 2025
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The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien has said that the Fair Deal (FD) scheme could be amended in order to allow Ukrainian refugees to use the homes tied into the scheme.
The Cabinet heard an update this morning from the Fianna Fáil TD on the response to potentially housing 8,000 refugees under the Fair Deal scheme.
Minister O' Brien first proposed the changes two weeks ago, but this may be easier said than done, as the Cabinet was also told that it is likely that between 50 and 60 per cent of properties pledged by the public for Ukrainian refugees will not be suitable for use.
It was also heard that almost 18,600 have arrived in the country so far, while the State has previously said that it is expected that up to 200,000 Ukrainian refugees will arrive in Ireland as a result of the war in their home country.
However, as pointed out by BreakingNews.ie, it is currently unclear whether they would solely be for Ukrainian refugees, or if they could be put on the private rental market.
Meanwhile, the Business Post has reported that estimates calculated by the Dept of Housing have forecast up to 35,000 homes will be required in Ireland within the next month to meet the demand for Ukrainian refugees.
In related news, Minister Darragh O' Brien TD, along with Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Peter Burke, recently revealed that they are inviting applications from cross-border Local Authority Partnerships for the new Shared Island Local Authority Development Funding Scheme.
According to a statement from the Department: "The €5 million scheme is being funded through the government’s Shared Island Fund and will support the development of new joint investment projects by cross-border Local Authority partnerships to deliver on agreed regional development goals and the Shared Island dimension of the National Development Plan."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, spoke to the Oireachtas earlier today via video call, where he thanked Ireland for providing aid for his country, for agreeing to sanctions against Russia, and for taking in Ukrainian refugees.
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