00:00Ireland is to significantly reduce welfare payments for refugees from Ukraine.
00:05From September 1st next, weekly state payments to refugees will be reduced from €232 per week to just over €38 per week.
00:15The decision has been criticised by left-wing parties in Ireland who say it will lead to an increase in child poverty
00:21and ultimately amounts to being a political distraction from other domestic problems.
00:27The immediate implication will be a dramatic rise in child poverty in this country.
00:32We know that the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees who are here are women and their children.
00:38So it's really quite a disgusting move, quite a cynical move by the government.
00:44Allowances for children will be paid at €29.80 per week.
00:49The payments will affect 19,000 refugees even though close on 80,000 Ukrainians have moved to Ireland
00:55since the start of the war with Russia in February 2022.
00:59The reduction in payments will see Ireland come close to what is being paid in France
01:04where accommodated refugees receive €47.60 per week.
01:08Unaccommodated refugees receive €99.40 per week.
01:13In Germany, the citizens' income is fixed at €563 per month
01:18while the payment for children stands at €471 per month or just under €120 per week.
01:25The Irish government says its proposed reduction in welfare payments brings the country into line with most EU states.
01:32It's a move to do two things, to put us on the same footing as our European counterparts around the Union
01:39but also to make sure that Ukrainian temporary protection recipients here are all on the same footing
01:44so it doesn't depend on when you arrived in Ireland, everybody will get the same.
01:48The changes are likely to discourage many refugees from considering a move to Ireland
01:52as a shortage in housing in the Irish economy continues to be a difficult problem for the government to solve.
01:59This decision by the Irish government to reduce weekly welfare payments to refugees from Ukraine
02:05from over €200 per week to just over €38 per week appears to be sending out a strong message.
02:12It is that where there was once a very warm Irish welcome for refugees from Ukraine
02:17that welcome is now starting to go cold.
02:20This is Ken Murray for Euronews at the Department of Integration in Dublin.
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