The Government expects that tented accommodation will become "the primary source of accommodation" for newly arriving Ukrainian refugees from next week, due to a current shortage of available alternative accommodation.
Last month the Ukrainian Embassy posted a message warning its citizens that Ireland "faced another crisis regarding the resettlement" of Ukrainians fleeing the war, and urged those who were "in a safe place" to refrain from travelling.
From tomorrow Ukrainians, who benefit from temporary protection here, will be accommodated in tents previously used for 'boutique camping' at last weekend's Electric Picnic festival on the Stradbally Estate in Co Laois, though the festival itself is not involved in the project.
A spokesperson for the Department of Children, Equality, Integration, Disability and Youth said accommodation at the Stradbally site was "for very short term use".
"The contract is for a six-week period and will have a capacity of 750, which will be used on a phased, contingency basis," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the initiative was in response to "a significant shortfall in accommodation for those fleeing Ukraine".
However there seems to be no clear end to this shortfall in sight, with tourist, student, commercial and refurbished accommodation all in short supply.
The department spokesperson said that "the summer months have seen an increase in the number of arrivals from Ukraine, with more than 10,000 people fleeing here since 1 May".
"While it has been possible to source accommodation from the tourism sector up to now, that sector is at capacity, and very few new offers are being made to the Department," they said.
Student accommodation had helped to bridge the gap over the summer months, providing accommodation to more than 3,000 people, but students are now returning to third level education creating another pinch point.
The spokesperson said that some of these too "may have to be moved to other very short-term accommodation until more stable accommodation is available".
They said that "offers of commercial accommodation... continue to reduce month on month."
"We have negotiated with and contracted as many longer-term providers as is possible," the spokesperson said.
"Not all are suitable and must meet agreed standards."
While "other sources of accommodation which require refurbishment or have building requirements take significantly longer to come on stream," they said.
"Due to this significant shortfall, it is expected that, from next week, tented accommodation will be the primary source of accommodation for new arrivals from Ukraine," the spokesperson added.
Alternative to tents is "sleeping on the streets" - local minister
Today local politicians in Laois were further briefed on plans to accommodate Ukrainian refugees in bell-tents in the Stradbally estate from tomorrow.
Minister of State and Fianna Fáil TD for Laois/Offaly Seán Fleming said that it was made clear that "temporary emergency accommodation" was needed to meet the current demand.
"The only alternative is no accommodation and people sleeping in the outdoors or on the streets and the Irish people would not like that," Mr Fleming said.
The Department of Integration has described the tents as "of a high quality which are constructed on site in advance of use by festival attendees, including those in family groups".
The three-person and six-person family bell-tents that were used for boutique camping at last weekend's festival are also being moved and reconfigured in order to meet the "normal standards of emergency accommodation for families".
Mr Fleming said tents would be located in a site used as a festival family camping area.
"We're told its for six weeks only, its a six weeks contract," Mr Fleming said.
"They are tents, they are not suitable for the winter period, so that does say to me that after a six week period max, people will have to get proper accommodation.
"We hope come into October that some of the hotels around the country at the end of the tourist season will have some spaces available and rooms available for people to move from here to those locations."
Asylum seekers living in tents for months
The tents at the Laois site will be for families and due to the short time frame involved the department has confirmed that "there is no current provision for children to attend local primary schools at this time".
However it is intended that a temporary entertainment and recreational space for children will be set up.
Elsewhere some Ukrainians are already living in tents, with some Ukrainian men recently accommodated in tents in Columb Barracks in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
Asylum seekers are also being accommodated in tents in three locations around the country.
There are currently 57 also living in tents on the Columb Barracks site, 79 are in tented accommodation at Knockalisheen in Meelick, Co Clare, and 120 recently moved into tents on the site of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Dublin.
"The tents aren't suitable for people who are fleeing persecution or war," Eugene Quinn, Director of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Ireland said.
"One of the real concerns is the length of time people are spending in tents," Mr Quinn said.
"It was to cover a previous pinch point that people were first put in tents and the Government commitment was that people would be put in for a short duration, but the reality is that people have spent months, and in Knockalisheen, up to eight months since the start of year, in tents."
Nick Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Refugee Council, shares those concerns.
"Tents, in the opinion of the Irish Refugee Council, are fundamentally inappropriate for people to be placed in," Mr Henderson said.
"They do not meet people's basic needs.
"In December 2022 there was widespread agreement, from the President to ministers to civil society, that they were completely inappropriate."
That month the Department of Children said that the use of tented accommodation would "cease" following criticism of the housing of asylum seekers in tents in winter.
The practice of using tents as asylum seeker accommodation ceased for a number of weeks, but was reintroduced in January 2023.
