TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR said he was “saddened” that Wicklow Fine Gael councillors voted against leasing sites to build modular housing for Ukrainian refugees.

A vote was held in Wicklow County Council on Monday about leasing the sites in Baltinglass and Dunlavin to provide 68 modular homes.

However, most Fine Gael councillors voted against the move.

“I was saddened to see that, quite frankly,” Varadkar told RTÉ’s The News at One.

While he noted that not every Fine Gael councillor voted against the motion, he acknowledged that “a lot of them did”.

“The vote was very heavily against leasing those sites,” said Varadkar, “I don’t think it was the right decision.”

Most Fianna Fáil and independent councillors also voted against the motion. 

Varadkar told RTÉ: “I think we should welcome Ukrainians into our communities and using sites such as these for modular housing is part of the solution.”

As part of the government’s response to the Ukrainian crisis, it was agreed last summer to commence with a modular housing programme to provide accommodation for refugees arriving from Ukraine.

The government noted that the modular housing also has the potential to be utilised to address other accommodation challenges, including social housing and student accommodation.

However, Varadkar said no sanction would be imposed on those who voted against the motion.

“We don’t impose a directive or a whip on our councillors unless it relates to the budget or the election of the mayor,” said Varadkar.

“So we do allow our councillors a certain degree of freedom in terms of the decisions that they make, it’s different to being a TD.”

Varadkar added that the decision “can be revisited”.

“The Council and the county manager can come back with a revised plan in about six months’ time,” said Varadkar, “perhaps with more community engagement, perhaps making a real effort to bring councillors on board and certainly I’m happy to be part of that.”

Meanwhile, Varadkar told the News at One that Ireland has done “extremely well” in its response to the Ukraine war.

“Nearly 100,000 people have come from Ukraine seeking refuge here.

“The numbers keep coming and 100,000 is a huge number.

“If you think about it, it’s more than the population of many of our cities, and yet we’ve managed to accommodate them.”

Varadkar added that it is an “enormous challenge” and warned that we “shouldn’t underestimate the scale of the challenge we’re facing”.

He also noted that “we will have to use tents from time to time”.

The Department of Integration last week signed a contract that will see up to 750 people housed at the Electric Picnic site in Stradbally, Co Laois for six weeks.

“We are confident though that certainly the ones in Stradbally, we’ll only need to use them for a period of weeks,” said Varadkar.

He added that “other things” are being done in addition to using tents.

“We also are renovating a lot of old buildings, like old convents and old institutions, making them viable for accommodation.”

And while Varadkar said the “long term solution can’t be using hotels and B&Bs” he acknowledged that “we will have to continue to use them for quite some time”.