In 2025, the Justice and Home Affairs Council extended Temporary Protection until March 2027. This extension is due to the ongoing uncertainty and volatility of the situation in Ukraine, and the related need for ongoing protection in the EU. There may be further extensions to the directive which will be agreed at EU level.
Ireland supports a harmonised EU-wide approach to exiting Temporary Protection, so that when this transition occurs, it does so consistently and appropriately across the EU.
Ireland remains supportive of the European Commission’s role in leading the dialogue on exit strategies. The Department cannot pre-empt the outcome of future discussions and decisions of the EU in this regard.
The Cabinet Committee on Justice, Migration and Social Affairs met recently and discussed this transition and a proposal is being developed for Government consideration in the coming weeks. The Government will also consider proposals being developed to phase out State-funded accommodation, which has been provided to people from Ukraine since 2022.
These proposals will align with the EU Council Recommendation concerning a co-ordinated approach to transition people out of Temporary Protection across the EU. Ireland is advancing the four sets of measures outlined in the Recommendation:
* Promote and facilitate the transition to other legal statuses before the end of temporary protection;
* Pave the way for a smooth and sustainable reintegration in Ukraine;
* Ensure information provision to displaced people; and
* Ensure coordination, monitoring and exchange of information among Member States and with the Ukrainian authorities.
Ireland’s objective is to achieve a coordinated and orderly exit from temporary protection through advancing the above measures.
I can advise the Deputy that it is existing policy that time spent in the State on permissions that are inherently transitionary or intended to be temporary in nature are not reckonable for the purpose of naturalisation.
Last November I, along with Minister O'Callaghan, secured Government approval to introduce new policies and legislative changes to strengthen Ireland’s migration and asylum system to ensure it is rules-based, efficient and more aligned with EU Member States.
To provide legislative clarity for the existing policy position in relation to temporary permissions, we intend to amend the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 to explicitly exclude Temporary Protection under the Temporary Protection Directive from the residency accrual provisions of the 1956 Act. This will require legislative change, full scrutiny of which will take place through the regular parliamentary process.
The impact of the exclusion of time spent under Temporary Protection from the calculation of reckonable residence will be carefully considered as part of the ongoing work across Government on approaches to managing the exit from Temporary Protection.
