At the end of 2023, we surveyed over 1,400 people who were hosting Ukrainians in their homes or pledged properties. This is the biggest survey of hosts to date and the data it provided has been invaluable. It shows us that hosting works and is a significant part of the accommodation solution, yet there are limitations in its scope.
Read the full report, prepared by independent researcher Finian Murphy, below.
Read our full presentation to Government, including our asks to policy makers, below.
Ireland’s Hosting Programme
Ireland is leading the way in the welcome being extended to those displaced by the invasion of Ukraine. 25% of all displaced Ukrainian people currently living here, are in host accommodation and pledged properties, compared to 8-9% across the EU*.
Since the beginning of the crisis, over 12,000 people have hosted more than 26,000 displaced Ukrainians in their homes and properties. Behind all those doors, with the support of the Irish State, people are pioneering a whole new model of refugee welcome.
Key Survey Takeaways
The survey results show us that for the majority of hosts (76%), solidarity, or compassion, is the main motivation for opening their home. At its best, hosting can be a life changing experience, but it’s not without challenges. The Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) is essential in addressing the practical requirements of hosting and enables people to keep going for as long as they’re able to.
92% of people who have hosted have had a positive experience. 74% would recommend hosting to others. Beyond people’s commitment to taking action in solidarity, the results demonstrate how the ARP and the ongoing support and resources offered by Helping Irish Hosts and our Consortium partners are vital in sustaining the host response.
What’s Next?
It’s so important that we use what we know and have learned - and lived! - from the host experience to envisage solutions for onward pathways and what happens next. Hosting is one part of the accommodation solution, but it’s not for everyone and it’s not sustainable for large numbers of people in the long term.
What began as an act of kindness and a crisis response, has evolved into an incredibly robust hosting programme and a key integration opportunity for people seeking refuge in Ireland. Our priority now is to protect and sustain it. We will continue to solicit, listen and respond to host voices in delivering the strategy we have put in place to achieve this.
For as long as people step up, step in and step out (!) of hosting, we’ll be here to support and advocate for them.
Thank You
Thank you for reading and sharing this research. If you’re a host, thank you for contributing.
We hope it lifts you up, gives you hope and inspires positive change, in the way that hosts have done for us (and each other) over the past 22 months.
If you have questions, comments or suggestions for us, or you need support in your hosting journey, please get in touch.
*Source: DCEDIY, Jan 2024 & EU Agency for Asylum, June 2023