UKRAINIANS will not be turned out on the streets of West Cork, according to one service provider who said he is shocked at the government’s decision to cut supports for refugees.

Denny Collins, who accommodates approximately 100 refugees in a large building at Main Street, Skibbereen, and Church Cross on the outskirts of town, said: ‘We know nothing: the first information we received was when it broke on the 6 o’clock news on Monday night.

‘The same is true for the 40-plus residents on Sherkin Island. They have been told nothing either.’

Bantry is also accommodating Ukrainian refugees.

There are 58 living in the Westlodge Hotel, and 30 in the hotel’s holiday cottages.

There are 28 Ukrainians living at the Bantry Bay Hotel in Wolfe Tone Square, where the contract is due for renewal at the end of May.

And there are six people living at The Parkway Hotel in Dunmanway, where the contract is due for renewal at the end of July.

Denny said: ‘The strain is already starting to show.’

He said he has received lots of calls from people distressed by the news. He said he is also getting calls from psychology services dealing with vulnerable Ukrainians, mostly mothers and children, who now fear for their future.

Colm Brophy, Minister of State for Migration, confirmed on Tuesday that the government is taking a phased or ‘transitionary’ approach to the reduction in supports.

The measures will involve giving commercial accommodation providers three-months-notice in August, or possibly earlier if their contract is due for renewal.

The government is also to reduce the Accommodation Recognition Payments (ARP) to homeowners who accommodate Ukrainians to €400 in September, and then eliminate it completely in March 2027.

Kathryn Kingston, the co-ordinator of The Caha Family Resource Centre, noted that the accommodation provider in Clonakilty is already two-months into its notice.

She said: ‘People were aware that cutbacks were coming, but this will hurt those who cannot find alternative accommodation, especially in locations like Clonakilty and Kinsale.’

Local employers are becoming anxious too because they are reliant on their Ukrainian workforce.

As for the government’s incentives for people to return to Ukraine, Kathryn said: ‘A lot of people who are here don’t want to go back.

‘Some parts of Ukraine are okay, but some parts aren’t. The places that are still being bombed are clearly not safe to go back to. Some of their children have never been to Ukraine. They really want to be here because they have lives: families, friends and jobs.’

Kathryn added: ‘An awful lot of them are in employment and are really trying to make a go of it, but in some cases their average wage is €400 a week and they are not entitled to HAP or rent supplements.’ She said the number of Ukrainians in government-supported accommodation in West Cork is down because people have been finding accommodation with the support of the ARP.

She believes that cutting the ARP is going to have a bigger effect in West Cork than other areas because most families depend on it.

‘What it means is that Ukrainians earning €400 a week, such as fish factory workers, will have nothing to live on after their accommodation is paid,’ she concluded.

Olena Baranova, who came from Ukraine to Skibbereen, said the lack of information was ‘leading to increased uncertainty, stress and anxiety among people about their future and the future of their children’.

She added: ‘It is important to note that the war in Ukraine continues and it is making the return of Ukrainians to their homeland impossible which makes the situation critical.’