The Taoiseach is to hold a meeting with Ministers on Thursday after it emerged Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers had to sleep at Dublin Airport due to a lack of accommodation.
Up to 250 refugees stayed at the old terminal building in Dublin Airport on Wednesday night because there are no spaces available in State-provided accommodation. Of the 250 refugees, about 150 are women and children fleeing their homes in Ukraine.
A volunteer group that helps Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion said some of them had to sleep on a bare floor. About 40,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war have sought refuge in Ireland so far.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the accommodation issues are “not ideal” but every country taking in Ukrainians is under pressure. He told Newstalk: “None of this is easy.”
The operator of Dublin Airport said it had made the Old Central Terminal Building available to the Department of Children to help them facilitate the arrival of Ukrainian nationals into Ireland.
Margarita Kalinichenko, who volunteers with the Ukrainian Action Group, told RTÉ: "They are very grateful for the place to be quiet at the moment, and they're not demanding or something.
“They're very grateful for what they have. But they slept on the bare floor yesterday."
Irish Red Cross Secretary General Liam O'Dwyer said that the Citywest Transit Hub is now full. He said as well as the airport, a "tented village" at the Army barracks in Gormanstown will also have to be used. However, it’s understood that Gormanstown is not fully ready yet.
Mr O’Dwyer told RTÉ that the shortage of accommodation is due to the influx from Ukraine as well as other people seeking international protection from other countries.
He told RTÉ that he suspected that the increase of those seeking refuge here is due to the UK's decision to send people to Rwanda.
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