Around 17,000 Ukrainians are currently working full-time in Ireland, an “unusually high” proportion given the proportion of refugees who are women with childcare needs, TDs said.
John McKeon, general secretary of the Department of Social Protection, told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that around 30% of Ukrainian adults living in Ireland were employed.
He also told the meeting that the department’s case officers would say the Ukrainian refugees were “enthusiastic to become more actively involved.” [with employment support services] Probably more than other people we deal with. ”
McKeon said that although the department’s COVID-19 work has slowed, it continues to “dedicate significant energy, time and resources to responding to the Ukraine crisis and inflationary pressures.”
Around 103,000 Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) have been issued to Ukrainian nationals since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and an estimated 80,000 refugees are thought to remain in Ireland.
About a quarter of this number are children, and the ministry pays child benefit to 21,000 children.
PAC was informed that most welfare payments for Ukrainian refugees must be collected directly at the post office.
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Total expenditure to date on welfare support and services for Ukrainian refugees is estimated at 650 million euros.
The government has approved plans to significantly reduce social security payments for future arrivals from Ukraine as part of its response to a shortage of refugee accommodation.
Employment support services are provided to adult Ukrainians, and approximately 35,000 people participate, McKeon said.
A further 8,000 people were referred to programs such as Community Employment, Return to Education and Tús.
Mr. McKeon said that income statistics suggest that 24,000 Ukrainian nationals are employed, including part-time.
He said the company has 17,000 full-time employees.
Fine Gael TD Colm Burke said he had heard of cases of people not wanting to get a job because of the benefits they were receiving.
“That’s not an experience we have to say,” McKeon said.
He said three-quarters of refugees are women and children, adding: “There are women living in hotel rooms in the west of Ireland, three people in one room, one woman and two children, with childcare responsibilities and other responsibilities.
“The employment rate is about 30%. The employment rate for people in this situation is extraordinarily high.”
PAC was informed that 5,500 Ukrainians work in the service industry, just under 3,000 in retail, 2,000 in manufacturing, just over 1,500 in support and 1,000 in construction.
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Mr McKeon said there were around 100 Ukrainians working at the Ministry of Social Protection and “we are happy to have them”, adding that a further 36 people had moved from the Ministry to permanent positions in other civil servants. He said there was.
He added: “I think a construction company with 1,000 Ukrainians would be just as happy to have construction staff as the Ukrainian government.” [more than] $5,000 in hospitality. ”
He said there was “no evidence” for the scenario Burke described, adding, “If I were to say anything, our case officers probably were more actively involved than some of the other people we respond to.” “I would say I want to,” he added.
Separately, Mr McKeon said around €2.4 billion had been spent on welfare benefit increases and one-off support introduced by the government to ease the inflation-driven cost-of-living crisis.
He said ESRI research (from the Economic and Social Research Institute) showed the measures were “substantially” easing the effects of inflation on people on low incomes.
He added: “While there are differing views on the appropriate balance between base rate increases and lump sum payments, the approach taken to date has ensured that the incomes of people dependent on welfare exceed the inflation-adjusted amount. “The number of people living on welfare is increasing, and a large proportion of the population is dependent on welfare,” he added. He plans the increases to coincide with the winter and spring months, when cost pressures are highest. ”
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