Leo Varadkar says he and his partner Matt Barrett have registered with the Irish Red Cross offering to take in refugees from Ukraine.
Speaking on Saturday, the Tánaiste said accommodation will be “the biggest challenge” facing the State. Talks are ongoing with the Army about using Gomanstown Camp to provide additional emergency accommodation.
“Accommodation is going to be the biggest challenge, that is fair to say,” he said, speaking at Dublin Airport on his return on Columbia, the Irish Examiner reports.
“At the moment we are relying very much on hotels and B&B accommodation around the country, but if we are at 10,000 now, we are likely to be at 20,000 by the end of the month. This is more likely to continue than slow down.”
He said his partner registered their house about three weeks ago with the Red Cross, offering their spare bedroom for at least six months.
"We got the acknowledgment, and what they are prioritising now is people who can provide a vacant property, own-door accommodation. That is going to be the priority for the Red Cross and the Refugee Council.
“What they will do then is move onto people who can provide a room and are linked to public transport. We are in Category 2 in that regard.”
Mr Varadkar urged the 20,000 people who have similarly registered to be patient, as the system works through the offers.
“We are certainly talking to the Army about Gormanstown,” he said.
Mr Varadkar also said he had been in touch with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who is in Washington DC after testing positive for Covid-19 during his St Patrick's Day visit.
“He is in good spirits, in good form. He is working from Washington, we are in a very different world to two or three years ago, and he has been able to carry out almost all of his duties remotely,” he said.
“Where he can’t, I will fill in for him or another minister will. He is still hoping it will be possible he can make it to Brussels for the EU Council.”
