Irish government struggling to house Ukrainian refugees

About 42,000 Ukrainians are currently being accommodated by the Irish government

Irish government ministers will meet on Monday to discuss the current shortage of refugee accommodation, days after admitting that new arrivals may have to sleep rough.

Earlier this week, the government announced that Dublin's Citywest Transit Hub, which is being used to house refugees, had reached "capacity".

It temporarily closed the facility to new arrivals on Thursday.

Children's Minister Roderick O'Gorman said that he could not rule out the possibility that some refugees may have to sleep on the streets.

However, he said families with children and vulnerable people would get priority for available beds.

The government is working with charities and non-government organisations in a bid to secure more shelters, but has said that "access to suitable accommodation is severely constrained".  

A small number of Ukrainians attended the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless People in Dublin on Saturday morning.

Some of them told Irish broadcaster RTÉ that they had spent the night sleeping in Dublin Airport.

Junior minister Martin Heydon told RTÉ he understood that 33 male Ukrainian refugees could not be accommodated on Friday night and he described that as "disappointing".

"This is about us being honest and straight up with people as well who are outside the country at present thinking and deciding where to go.

"We can't guarantee everybody that comes here a bed right now because of the situation we're in."

Later on Saturday, Taoiseach ( Irish prime minister) Michéal Martin defended the government's response saying it had been remarkably fast at responding to a wartime situation.

He said the state had responded in an extraordinary way in terms of the numbers it had already accommodated.

"We can all estimate the numbers coming in but that doesn’t mean you can immediately provide accommodation," he said.

"We will have to move faster to accommodate increasing numbers. There’s an intensification of the war and it’s taking a very nasty turn and civilians are now a target."

The Republic of Ireland has been trying to cope with a significant increase in refugees since the war in Ukraine began in February.

Overall, more than 58,000 refugees are currently being accommodated by the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

Of those, 42,000 are Ukrainian and the other 16,000 are people of different nationalities seeking international protection.

The department illustrated the recent rise in requests by pointing out that at the same time last year it was accommodating a total of 7,250 refugees.

It said it has "contracted approximately 25% of hotel beds in Ireland, alongside hostels, guest houses, pledged accommodation, sports stadiums, scout facilities, tented accommodation and modular units".

However, the department warned that the country is now facing a projected shortfall of 15,000 beds by December if the number of refugee arrivals stay at "elevated levels".