Concerns have been raised about the absence of rigorous Garda vetting for those who have offered to host fleeing Ukrainians in their homes. 

Vivian Guerin, Chairman of the Irish Association of Social Workers, said he applauded the generosity of those who have made the offers; however, he added that the lack of vetting could be a disaster in the making for people who already gone through an extremely tough time: 

“As a state, I believe we have to ensure that we offer and provide the maximum protection to those who are fleeing from the war in Ukraine,” he told The Hard Shoulder. 

“And as part of that I think vetting, or background checking, in relation to relevant offending is essential in preventing possibly negative outcomes for people who have already come through traumatic situations and may be particularly vulnerable.”

Mr Guerin continued that while most people had the best of intentions, he worried that a small minority would try and take advantage of the lack of checks: 

“It’s important to say that the vast, vast majority I believe of those who are offering accommodation and other support are doing it with the absolute best will and they won't’ be a problem,” he said. 

“But there are always a very, very small minority of people who potentially will or can abuse the process.” 

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Over 6,000 offers

The UN estimates that more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia decided to invade and on Sunday An Taoiseach said that 5,500 of them had arrived in Ireland. 

Over 6,000 people have contacted the Red Cross to offer Ukrainian refugees a room or home for them to live in. General Secretary Liam O’Dwyer said he was “bowled over” by the response: 

“We built that register of pledges for the Syrian refugees when they came here back in 2016,” he said. 

“And we were delighted to get a response of a thousand offers over a period of a few months. Whereas last night our database got overloaded and we had to stop it!”

Main image: Ukrainian refugees crossing the Polish border in Medyka on March 1st 2022. Picture by: SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live News2.