Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has admitted the Government has been “caught out” this weekend by the increase in the numbers of Ukrainian refugees seeking accommodation.
Mr Coveney added that it was “not acceptable” that refugees were told there was no accommodation for them on their arrival into Ireland.
A total of 43 Ukrainian refugees were left without State accommodation this weekend.
The Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland Larysa Gerasko has described the lack of accommodation for Ukrainian refugees as “unacceptable”.
Mr Coveney told RTE’s This Week on Sunday that almost 60,000 Ukrainians had been accommodated to date this year.
“What’s happened this weekend is not acceptable,” he said.
“The government is not happy about it. We have a meeting tomorrow to try and put responses in place.
“And this, by the way, is not just the responsibility of one minister.
“It’s the responsibility of us all in government to ensure that we find sufficient accommodation.
He added: “It is no secret that Ireland is being put under huge pressure because of the huge numbers this year…Ireland has never faced a migration crisis like this before.
“And unfortunately this weekend, we have been somewhat caught out in the context of the numbers that have come over the last few weeks.
“We need to respond to that as a government now and we will.”
Ms Gerasko said it would have been better if the Government had informed people in advance that there was not enough beds
“As far as I know the Government is working on on plan,” the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland said.
“It’s not acceptable. It’s unacceptable for us, because, of course we are worrying about our people.
“They bought the tickets, they arrived in Ireland…it would be better to to announce the lack of, or absence of, the accommodation in advance.”
