Paul Murphy: Cuts to Ukrainian Hosts Will Fuel Homelessness
Paul Murphy warns that planned government cuts to accommodation payments for people hosting Ukrainian refugees will push thousands into homelessness. In a forceful address he criticises Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin for using support for Ukraine to justify militarisation while scapegoating refugees.
What he said: Paul Murphy directly challenges the decision to cut the accommodation payment for hosts from 800 to 600 and now reportedly to 400, saying the reductions are a step towards winding down the scheme and will force people out of host arrangements.
Projected impact: Murphy warns that the consequence could be mass exits from the scheme, with research and figures cited suggesting up to 35,000 people could suddenly need private rental accommodation, increasing homelessness and worsening an already overstretched housing system.
Political context: He accuses government parties and Sinn Féin of amplifying a misleading narrative that refugees are being exploited for profit, and states this rhetoric echoes far-right talking points rather than evidence-based analysis.
Evidence cited: Murphy cites Irish Red Cross research and scheme data - noting 86% of hosts say they could not continue without the AARP payment - to argue the scheme is cheap for the state and effective at providing accommodation, and that cutting it makes no practical sense.
What he said: Paul Murphy directly challenges the decision to cut the accommodation payment for hosts from 800 to 600 and now reportedly to 400, saying the reductions are a step towards winding down the scheme and will force people out of host arrangements.
Projected impact: Murphy warns that the consequence could be mass exits from the scheme, with research and figures cited suggesting up to 35,000 people could suddenly need private rental accommodation, increasing homelessness and worsening an already overstretched housing system.
Political context: He accuses government parties and Sinn Féin of amplifying a misleading narrative that refugees are being exploited for profit, and states this rhetoric echoes far-right talking points rather than evidence-based analysis.
Evidence cited: Murphy cites Irish Red Cross research and scheme data - noting 86% of hosts say they could not continue without the AARP payment - to argue the scheme is cheap for the state and effective at providing accommodation, and that cutting it makes no practical sense.
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Transcript
Thanks. Fine Gael's manifesto for the last election says, Fine Gael will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. We will unequivocally support Ukraine. I presume Fianna Fáil's manifesto said something similar. You support them as long as you can use them to drive an agenda of militarisation and undermining of neutrality. But when it comes to actual Ukrainian people who have fled Putin's imperialist invasion to this country, well, then the government is happy to use them as a scapegoat, to impose cuts on them, to have the specter of homelessness in front of them. You cut the payment for accommodation providers that obviously doesn't go directly to Ukrainians from 800 to 600. There's now reports that you're going to cut it further to 400 as a step towards winding down the scheme. The result of this, if you follow through, and if there isn't a significant change in terms of the number of people who are here, will be loads of people thrown into homelessness. It'll make the housing crisis worse. And if this is what happens, don't worry. We will be clear in terms of who's been calling for this, who's responsible for it, both the government and Sinn Féin, if you actually throw all these people onto the housing market and worsen the crisis. We know from the research by the Irish Red Cross that the AARP is not squeezing renters trying to find a place to rent. It's disappointing to hear Sinn Féin amplifying that misleading narrative, which is a narrative that comes from the far right, from people who are opposed to all immigration. You can look at the figures. These people, it doesn't make any sense for landlords to be using this scheme. I'm not saying you won't find the odd case here or there. It doesn't make any sense, because you can make more money. You can make up to 1,166 euros a month tax-free from the rent-a-room scheme. You can get 600 euros from this. You're going to be able to get 400 euros in the future. If you had a whole property, which the vast majority, 1%, are people living in the host homes, so they don't have a whole property to go, obviously, you could get much worse than that. If you proceed with the cuts, the result will be some people exiting the scheme. We know that 86% of people say they couldn't continue to host without the AARP. We know why. We're in a cost-of-living crisis. That's getting worse. If it's ended, you could have 35,000 people suddenly trying to find private rental accommodation. The vast majority, and mostly women and children, would end up homeless, sleeping rough, or trying to access already totally overstretched emergency accommodation. We have a scheme that is cheap for the state, that is providing accommodation for people. The idea that we need to be cutting it back and trying to bring it to an end makes no sense whatsoever. It just serves to pit ordinary people against each other, and it would make the housing crisis worse. For more UN videos visit www.un.org