Addressing the cabinet this morning on the expected costs of housing Ukrainian refugees, Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath said it was still unclear how many refugees would ultimately make their way to Ireland. There is also uncertainty regarding the length of their stay.
McGrath said that while the costs of hosting Ukrainian refugees will be high, "they have to be met."
He estimated it could cost €500 million to cater for the roughly 10,000 refugees who have so far arrived.
"There will be significant costs but there's also a high degree of uncertainty," he said. "We don’t know how many refugees will come here, how many will stay, how many will want to work in the Irish economy, we think that many will, so we will manage these costs."
McGrath confirmed that the costs of housing Ukrainian refugees would be taken from the €4 billion COVID contingency fund. €1.5 billion of the fund has already been allocated, leaving €2.5 billion to cover hosting refugees and the costs of any further COVID measures.
Almost four million Ukrainians have fled their country since the beginning of the conflict last month.
On Monday night Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the West to step up its oil embargo measures against Russia.
"Doesn't everything the Russia military has done to date warrant an oil embargo?" he asked.
