Arriving refugees to be placed in emergency accommodation over Easter

The vast majority of Ukrainian refugees arriving into Ireland will be placed in emergency accommodation over Easter as all other options have now been exhausted, Government Ministers have heard.

In a briefing to Ministerial colleagues on Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin disclosed as many of 95 per cent of those who come to Ireland will be received in dormitory-style facilities such as community halls, where makeshift accommodation, primarily camp beds, have been provided.

Mr Martin also said that just over half of all 24,000 people who have pledged accommodation have received a call, with an expectation that all will be contacted by the end of this week.

However, authorities expect that half of the pledged accommodation will not come into use because the owners are not contactable or have withdrawn their offers.

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As of now, 23,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland. By Easter weekend, the forecasted number of arrivals to Ireland are in the range 26,000 to 32,000. The number of people arriving into Ireland has remained at below 500 a day in the past week but the numbers continue to fluctuate.

Ukrainian children continue to be enrolled in primary and post primary schools – and 670 schools now have children and young people from Ukraine enrolled.

The Taoiseach also chaired a discussion on the situation in Ukraine and the ongoing national and international response to the crisis, including the increased numbers of refugees arriving in Ireland, and efforts to accommodate them, as well as the impact on the economy of energy inflation.

His colleagues heard that the security and humanitarian situation in Ukraine has remained very grave, especially in those areas which remain subject to continued Russian attack.

It is beyond reasonable doubt that war crimes have been committed by the Russian forces, the Cabinet was told.

Ministers heard there has been increased pressure in securing short-term accommodation in recent days as contracts for short-term hotel accommodation have expired coming into the Easter period.