5,000 additional beds needed for Ukrainian refugees before Easter, Cabinet warned

Refugees walk after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, Saturday, April 2, 2022. Picture: AP Photo/Sergei Grits

Ireland will need an additional 5,000 beds to cope with the number of Ukrainian refugees coming here before Easter.

Cabinet was given the stark warning on Tuesday, though sources have said that exact numbers are hard to ascertain because of daily fluctuations in arrivals. 

A senior government source said that modelling based on 900 arrivals a day would see capacity reached. However, at the moment Ireland is around 580.

"We are going to be under pressure as we get through April," a source said.

"At any one time we're at 90% of capacity."

The Government is now looking at three facilities - Gormanston Camp, Green Glens Arena in Millstreet and Citywest in Dublin - to deal with the numbers.

The modelling estimates that between 17,000 and 19,000 people will be seeking accommodation by Easter. 

In the worst-case scenario, the country would be 10,000 places short of what is required, meaning that sports halls and community facilities will be needed as emergency accommodation.

An additional complication is that hotel room availability will drop as the peak summer tourist season begins.

Hospitality providers have anticipated a bounceback year for the sector after two years of Covid-19 restrictions, meaning many hotels will not have rooms available in July or August.

State urged to pay holiday home owners for Ukraine refugee accommodation

The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has urged the Government to give holiday home owners €300 to €400 per month to allow their properties to be used by Ukrainian refugees.

Chief Executive of the IRC Nick Henderson told Newstalk Breakfast, that a voluntary pledge scheme would help to encourage holiday homeowners to open up their properties to refugees making their way from Ukraine to Ireland.

“We are recommending a voluntary holiday home pledge scheme. If you own a holiday home and it is vacant, you could pledge it to be used by refugees for say a minimum of six months and in return, you would receive a monthly allowance, not at market rental rate. This, we believe, would significantly assist in the accommodation of refugees."

Mr Henderson said the compensation from the Government to holiday home owners would in all likelihood hugely increase the pool of properties available to refugees.

"The IRC paper recommends approximately €300 to €400 per month and that would be a sizable amount of money over six months.

"It wouldn’t be the rental rate still though it would be an amount of money the owner could use for their own means.

"Crucially, it might encourage people to do a good thing and bring on more and a greater supply of accommodation to meet this challenge.” 

Meanwhile, the IRC has also called on the Government to support refugees through the housing process. 

The council also maintains that some of the emergency solutions being utilised in response to the war in Ukraine could be used as longer-term alternatives to Direct Provision.