Intention to extend the Accommodation Recognition Payment Scheme

The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley has today announced her intention to seek Oireachtas approval to extend the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme for a further year to the end of March next year. This is to align with the timeframe for the Temporary Protection Directive which runs until March 2026. It also aligns with a continued move away from a reliance on tourism and hospitality settings for accommodating people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection from Ukraine.

This extension follows consultation with the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, as required under the relevant legislation. The Minister has also consulted with the Minister for Justice, and the Minister of State for Migration due to the imminent transfer of responsibility for this area to the Department of Justice.

The draft order to extend the scheme will be signed by the Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality, if approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas this week.

Subsequent to this, a draft order will be advanced proposing a reduction in the monthly ARP payment from €800 to €600, from June 2025. This reduction seeks to mitigate any unintended impact on the private rental sector. It also reflects recent policy changes which aim to ensure that such temporary and timebound supports for people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection are proportionate and equitable.

Minister Foley said: “The Accommodation Recognition Payment has unlocked a valuable source of accommodation to help meet the needs of those fleeing the war in Ukraine. It has been a cost-effective measure for the state in diverting thousands of beneficiaries away from State-contracted accommodation. Today’s announcement provides certainly to Ukrainian people and their hosts that this measure will remain in place until March 2026.”

Welcoming the proposed scheme extension, the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan said that “It will give the beneficiaries, their hosts, and NGOs supporting them both clarity and continuity. This scheme has been a crucial component of Ireland’s response in supporting the Ukrainian community.”

Minister of State for Migration, Colm Brophy said that: “The certainty that today’s announcement brings for Ukrainians living in Ireland is welcome and recognises the strong bond between the Ukrainian people and Irish people that has developed since the outbreak of this horrible war.”

The draft order to extend the scheme will be signed by the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality before the end of the month, if approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Accommodation Recognition Payment was initially set at €400 when it was introduced in July 2022, before later being increased to €800.

The number of people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection who are receiving accommodation as a result of the Accommodation Recognition Payment has increased from 8,539 at the end of 2022 to 37,500 now.

There are around 20,250 active claims in payment in respect of hosting approx. 37,500 people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, reflecting the fact that many hosts are providing accommodation for multiple people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.

From the scheme’s launch on 26 July 2022 to 17 March 2025, approx. €272 million has been paid to almost 22,900 hosts under the Accommodation Recognition Payment for hosting almost 52,000 people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.

The relevant legislation requires the Houses of the Oireachtas to approve a proposal on the rate of payment before the Ministerial order to effect a change is signed.

As the payment is payable monthly in arrears, the first payment at the reduced rate will be received by hosts on 8 July 2025.

The Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) was introduced in July 2022 to recognise the generosity of people who have opened their homes to provide accommodation of people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs).

The ARP scheme is provided for in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022, Part 2, and is administered by the Department of Social Protection on behalf of the Minister for Integration.

In line with extensions of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), the ARP scheme was initially extended to 31 March 2024 and then to 31 March 2025.

The current proposed extension to the scheme reflects the most recent TPD extension to 4 March 2026.

As of 17 March 2025, there were over 20,200 active claims in payment in respect of hosting almost 37,500 beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine.

The scheme has been successful in accommodating some 52,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine outside of State-procured accommodation since it commenced in 2022.

The scheme has been responsible for introducing a stream of accommodation that wouldn’t have been otherwise available.

ARP is not rent. It is not compensation. It is a recognition of the humanitarian hosting of Ukrainians fleeing a war.

The scheme is a more cost-effective solution for the State than commercial accommodation. It has allowed a move away from a total reliance on tourism and hospitality settings which are acknowledged as being unsustainable. It has enabled the department to consolidate and reduce its contracted accommodation portfolio.

The reduced monthly payment is intended to facilitate an orderly wind down of the scheme before the end of TPD; manage the expectations of all stakeholders (pledgers, BOTPs and NGOs); and address concerns about the potential impact of ARP on supply in the rental market.