The number of Ukrainian's seeking accommodation in Ireland will exceed 70,000 by the end of the year, according to the Government.

A county-by-county breakdown shows a wide disparity in the numbers being accommodated in different areas across the country.

In a statement to the Irish Examiner, the Department of Integration said it expects the number of Ukrainians coming to Ireland will exceed 70,000 people by the end of 2022.

Liam O'Dwyer, Secretary General of the Irish Red Cross has said the level of attacks on Ukraine, along with freezing temperatures during the winter months could cause more people to flee.

"The reports that we are getting from the Ukraine Red Cross would indicate the level of attacks on Ukraine, particularly into urban areas and the plummeting temperatures," Mr O'Dwyer said.

"You can expect temperatures of -15 degrees Celsius in Ukraine over the coming months, so it's fairly understandable that people would feel that they need to move out of that into a more stable environment."

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne programme, Mr O'Dwyer said Ireland will be under "very serious pressure" by April when hotel and hostel accommodation will be required for the tourist season.

"I think where you have 34,000 to 35,000 people from Ukraine living in the hotels and hostels and if any of that accommodation is required to come back on stream for tourists come March/April, that's where you will see a real problem," he said.

Currently, he said, there are 9,000 people in pledged accommodation and "that should grow over the next two to three months".

Added to that, he said, are the very high numbers of people, not from Ukraine, who are seeking international protection.

"The very high number of people seeking international protection apart from Ukraine, that's where I think you are looking at substantial figures to be dealt with by the Government over the coming weeks," Mr Dwyer said.

Asked if he thought people and communities should have a right to be consulted when large numbers of people are moved into the area, Mr O'Dwyer said: "This is an emergency but in the normal circumstances of course, people should be consulted and discussions need to take place because that's how you enable integration.

"You enable it by one community welcoming another community."

He said "it is much more difficult" for consultation to take place to the extent that it might if the situation was not an emergency.

"It's not that it can't, it should happen but it is much more difficult," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Rosslare Harbour Friends of Ukraine, Sean Boyce, has said the numbers of refugees arriving is sporadic, with just four people arriving today into Rosslare.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, he said it is harder for people to get to Ireland having to travel with changing weather conditions and the difficulties in leaving Ukraine with fewer means of transport in reaching Cherbourg in France to get to the ferry.

He said that there are some areas of Ireland that have more refugees than others, such as Wexford, the southwest and the western seaboard and Donegal but other areas like the midlands are accommodating fewer people.

Mr Boyce said: "A lot of coastal areas are quite tourist reliant and a lot of tourist properties would have been taken up in March and April when this first started.

"So, it’s been a natural flow to those areas since.

"But I think if we want to share a little bit more, it might take a little bit of pressure off those communities."