Ireland needs extra 35,000 permanent homes for Ukrainian refugees 

A Ukrainian evacuee hugs a child in the train station in Przemysl, near the Polish-Ukrainian border. Picture Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP via Getty Images

An extra 35,000 permanent homes could be needed for Ukrainian refugees on top of the 33,000 new houses that must be built every year, the Housing Minister has said.

The Government is scrambling to convert commercial properties, vacant buildings and even churches to house the tens of thousands of Ukrainians that are expected to arrive here in the coming days and weeks.