ALMOST 23,000 UKRAINIAN refugees have so far arrived in Ireland, with an average of 500 new arrivals each day.
The numbers are said to be putting pressure on existing accommodation provision with some 90-95% of new arrivals expected to be placed in dormitory style accommodation in community halls and sports halls.
Nearly 4,000 rooms in hotels and B&Bs have been providing short-term accommodation but the contracts with many of these providers are set to expire coming into the easter period.
A government spokesperson said today that some of these contracts may be renewed but that this may be “challenging” as hotels seek to make rooms available ahead of the tourist season.
The Department of Housing is involved in seeking plans for longer-term accommodation.
The government has said that about half of the 24,000 public offers of accommodation are not expected to come into use due to these offers either being withdrawn or because the homeowners were not contactable.
The ongoing effort to contact people who have pledged accomodation is expected to be completed by the end of this week.
As of yet, fewer than 100 people have been placed in pledged accomodation but this is expected to “significantly increase” in the coming period.
A tented village in Gormanstown and accommodation in the Citywest Hotel and Millstreet Arena in Cork are also part of the plans to house refugees.
It is now expected that the Millstreet venue will be available for use next week.
By the end of April it is estimated that the number of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland could be 34,000.
So far, 670 schools around the country have enrolled children or young people who have arrived from Ukraine.
Last night, US President Joe Biden accused Vladimir Putin’s forces of committing genocide in Ukraine.
During today’s Cabinet briefing, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the situation in Ukraine as “very grave” and that it was beyond reasonable doubt that war crimes have been committed by Russia.
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