The GAA has said it likely can’t offer Ukrainian refugees accommodation spaces until after winter due to demand and the commencement of the club championship season.
It comes after the Government put out a call to sporting organisations to ask bodies to assist in finding temporary accommodation due to the significant influx of people seeking refugee here.
GAA Community and Health Manager, Colin Regan said: "Unfortunately, the latest call coincides with the commencement of the club championship season, which places extensive demand on all GAA facilities at both club and county level.
Read More: Ukrainian refugees to be moved from Aviva Stadium as thousands more expected to arrive in August
"It means that the likelihood of any suitable accommodation becoming available in this very period is extremely limited.
"While a senior team may be knocked out of the championship, as we know, clubs will be catering for a whole swathe of underage and a myriad of adult teams right until the end of the club championship season, which will run in some counties for some clubs right up to the end of the year.
"We have been in regular contact with the Government this week on that matter. In fact, they first reached out to us in April.
“Following that call a number of our units around the country would have made what was assessed to be suitable accommodation available for Ukrainian refugees arriving in the country.”
He told RTÉ that the call from the Government comes at "a difficult time for the association".
The Government is continuing to source potential use of sport halls and large locations across the country.
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman said the State is at a “pinch point” in available accommodation as college students begin to look for rooms ahead of September.
He said the Government has reached out to sporting bodies such as the FAI, the IRFU and the GAA.
He said: "Recognising that pinch point that we had flagged, we had experienced in August, with the return of students and the fact that we would have to move Ukrainian displaced persons out of student accommodation we have been engaging with the sporting bodies in terms of potential use of sporting locations.”
The Government has put out a call for expressions of interest (EOI) from accommodation providers who may be interested in running full board accommodation for people seeking international protection in Ireland.
This involves providing a bed, three meals per day and laundry services on an emergency basis for a 26-week period.
Access to transport is preferable and the accommodation must be immediately available to accommodate 40 to 50 people.
It’s understood the approximate rates for bed and board accommodation could amount to €135 being paid for each single adult on a full-board basis at a Dublin hotel.
The EOI is focused on providing accommodation for asylum seekers.
And other tenders are under way to provide accommodation for people fleeing Ukraine.
Minister O'Gorman said the call for the temporary accommodation relates directly to international protection seekers and reflects a growing demand for accommodation for people seeking refuge in Ireland, which has jumped from 7,000 to 47,000 in one year.
Updated figures from Minister O’Gorman’s Department show as of August 1, over 43,520 Ukrainian refugees have arrived into Ireland.
Of these, around 33,220 have been referred to the Ukrainian Crisis Temporary Accommodation Team (UCTAT) for accommodation.
UCTAT provides a means for Ukrainians to access temporary short-term accommodation under the EU Temporary Protection Directive.
Latest figures show there were around 195 Ukrainians spending the night at the Citywest facility.
Around 48 Ukrainians that had been staying at Gormanston camp were due to leave on Friday.
A spokesman for the Department of Children said that facilities at the Aviva stadium are no longer in use.
The Government has recently put a halt to the suspension of visa-free travel for migrants in safe countries.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the Department of Justice had flagged concerns about a surge in international protection applications.
The suspension does not impact Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.
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