From Thursday 14 March, anyone fleeing the war in Ukraine who registers for temporary protection in Ireland and seeks state-provided accommodation will be accommodated for a maximum of 90 days.

Residents of these designated accommodation centres will no longer receive standard social welfare payments, instead being entitled to a reduced weekly allowance of €38.80 per adult and €29.80 per child. Child benefit is not affected.

When refugees leave the designated accommodation centre, or if they make their own accommodation arrangements on arrival, they will be entitled to apply for standard social welfare assistance on the same terms as Irish citizens.

In a statement, the government said it is “making these changes in order to continue to meet the EU Temporary Protection Directive requirements, and to align more closely with other EU member states”.

“These changes will not affect people from Ukraine who arrived in Ireland before this policy came into force and are already registered for temporary protection,” it added.