There are no plans to change the rights of Ukrainians who have already arrived in Ireland, Simon Harris has said. 

Ukrainians are currently entitled to weekly payments of €232; however, earlier this week, the Dáil voted to reduce that to €38.80 for new arrivals. 

The State will also only provide them with accommodation for the first 90 days of their time in Ireland. 

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Minister for Further Education Simon Harris said the status quo could not go on. 

“We’re currently bringing the law through the Oireachtas for new arrivals,” he said. “For people who come from Ukraine to Ireland now.

"We’re doing that to try and make the system more sustainable and to reflect the reality that we’re moving from an emergency response to a war [that we are] a couple years into now.”

The EU’s Temporary Protection Directive that governs Ukrainians’ right to live and work in Ireland is due to expire in March 2025. 

Minister Harris said that would be a logical time for further evaluation of their rights. 

“There is absolutely no Government decision at all to make any changes to any rights for anybody living here currently - that's true,” he said. 

“But we will obviously have to be guided by how Europe moves ahead in relation to this.” 

Right to work

Minister Harris also praised the way Ukrainians were “hungry for work” and had helped to reduce the “serious labour shortages” in many sectors of the economy. 

“The broader point is we want people who come from Ukraine - who have rights to work here, who have rights to access education - to get into the workforce,” he said. 

“And I must say, many, many have; I see it in my own communities across Wicklow, I see it across the country, many Ukrainian people are now working. 

“I see in Further Education, over 30,000 people from Ukraine last year, accessing further education courses, accessing English language courses.

“So, it is legally different if you come to Ireland from Ukraine versus other countries in the sense that you do have the right to access education and work from day one.”

At the end of 2023, there were an estimated 80,000 Ukrainian refugees in Ireland.

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Main image: Simon Harris. Picture by: Newstalk