Clare County Council is assessing potential new homes for Ukrainian families after receiving dozens of responses to a fresh appeal for accommodation.
According to to the latest figures, there are approximately 4,008 displaced people from Ukraine in Clare with 3,806 being accommodated in 29 multi-occupancy properties across 14 settlements in the county.
As part of the county’s response to help people affected by the war, the local authority led ‘Offer a Home’ was launched on December 1, 2022.
The council says it has received 37 offers of unoccupied homes to date.
Details of the local response to the crisis are contained in the council’s monthly management report for January.
Th report states, “We have made contact with all those who made offers and our team have carried out 26 assessments to date. We have arranged assessments of the remaining properties for the coming weeks. Of the homes inspected only one did not meet the requirements, three require minor works and three are not yet available.
The Offer a Home scheme has enabled Clare County Council to support three Ukrainian families that were living in multi-occupancy (DCEDIY) accommodation in Kilmaley. The contract with DCEDIY was being terminated and Clare County Council, working closely with our matching partner Mid-West Simon, was able to source a home for these families in the county.
“We have 20 Ukrainian people accommodated in homes under this scheme so far. We were contacted by a family who have been independently hosting a Ukrainian family and have provided assistance to them with the Ukrainian family being transferred to alternative accommodation under the ‘Offer a Home’ scheme.
We have a new member of staff joining us in January, he will be working with the accommodation team and will be providing support to homeowners and their Ukrainian residents. We continue to work closely with Mid-West Simon matching Ukrainian families to suitable homes in the county,” the council adds.
The council says that “at this point in the year County Clare now has 4,008 (approx.) displaced people from Ukraine with 3,806 being accommodated in 29 multi-occupancy properties across 14 settlements in the county.
The report continues, “In response to the recent severe weather the Department of Children and Integration (DCEDIY) asked a number of agencies for support in addressing the accommodation challenges in Knockalisheen, Meelick, and for our part Clare County Council identified and provided accommodation for 28 residents as part of that response with the assistance of both Clare Civil Defence and Mid-West Simon”.
