O'Gorman: Hotels will have to be 'medium term solution' for Ukrainian families

The Children's Minister also said a promise to provide modular homes made by Government will be broken

 Mr O’Gorman told RTÉ’s Primetime that just 10 of 500 State buildings due to be repurposed to house refugees are now in operation. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Using hotels to house Ukrainian families will now have to be a “medium-term” solution as part of Ireland’s response, Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman has admitted.

Mr O’Gorman said the country has taken in roughly 1% of its population in a matter of months, and the reality is that placing families in hotels will be the solution for a considerable time yet.

Mr O’Gorman conceded there have been failures with the original system of dealing with pledges of accommodation from the public, but added that “lessons have been learned”.

He said a new system will be run by local authorities as opposed to the Irish Red Cross, and the goal is to find accommodation on a county-by-county basis.

Mr O’Gorman also said that a previous promise to deliver modular homes by October will be broken, and it is now more likely be the end of the year or early in the New Year before they will be up and running.

He said that when they are completed, these homes will offer 2,800 beds, but accepted this is only a small proportion of the number of refugees here at present.

Mr O’Gorman told RTÉ’s Primetime that just 10 of 500 State buildings due to be repurposed to house refugees are now in operation.

As a result he said the reliance on hotels will no longer be an emergency, but rather a medium term measure.