The Cabinet heard this evening that based on predictions, there will be a shortage of accommodation for Ukrainians arriving here by the end of the month.
By the end of May, it is expected that between 29,000 and 33,000 Ukrainians will be seeking accommodation in Ireland.
At present, there are 24,438 Ukrainians in Ireland, 1,271 are being accommodated in emergency beds. This is out of a total of 2,325 such beds available across the State.
Cabinet also heard this evening that so far almost 10,500 hotel and B&B beds have been sourced to accommodate Ukrainians in Ireland.
The Millstreet Arena in Cork, with capacity for 320 people, is due to welcome 70 Ukrainians from this evening.
Ministers were told that contingency options remain in place for centres such as CityWest and Gormanstown Camp.
Around 700 empty homes, offered through the Red Cross, have been referred to Local Authorities to be allocated to refugees. A further 100 have been forwarded to other bodies, including the Peter McVerry Trust.
It is expected that around 200 will be filled by the end of the week.
Focus is now turning to offers of accommodation which involve Ukrainians sharing with homeowners. The Irish Red Cross expects these calls to be completed by the end of this week.
Ministers heard that there will be a continued risk of shortages of emergency and short-term accommodation in the immediate term.
The number of Ukrainians arriving in Ireland have fallen over the last week due to flights being pre-booked for Easter holidays.
However, it is expected that numbers of arrivals will increase again following the holiday period.
Ministers were also told that 3,190 students from Ukraine have enrolled in schools.
Of these, 2,096 are in primary school and 1,094 post-primary. A total of 903 schools now have students from Ukraine enrolled.
The Chief Executive of the Irish Refugee Council said that there is now a pressing need for one person to have responsibility for organising Ireland's response to people coming here from Ukraine, the chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council has said.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Nick Henderson said the response to the Ukraine crisis is at a critical phase and it needs to be centrally coordinated.
''Somebody who can bring together different Government departments, bring together civil society, and begin to place us on a roadmap for the coming months," he said.
"A huge amount of good work has been done by Government. 25,000 people have arrived. It's an unprecedented amount of people, but we think there needs to be greater coordination by and that includes both at a national level and at a local level to make sure there is consistency in what's being done across different counties, and to avoid duplication.''
Ukrainian PM asks Taoiseach for more Russian sanctions
The Taoiseach met Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at Shannon Airport this afternoon for over an hour and a half where he heard an update on the continuing devastation and destruction caused by the war.
Mr Martin said there is now a very deliberate attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to bomb citizens out of residential areas, forcing them to flee their country.
He said it is also Mr Putin's policy to destroy their capacity to grow and export grain creating a food crisis for other countries on top of the energy crisis already in place.
Mr Martin said the Ukrainian Prime Minister asked that Ireland support further sanctions against Russia and Ukraine's application to the EU which is making progress.
Met the Ukrainian PM @Denys_Shmyhal in Shannon today.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) April 20, 2022
He gave me first hand account of shocking and horrific campaign of terror on civilians in #Ukraine by Putin's regime.
I assured him of Ireland's support for strongest sanctions against Russia and for Ukraine’s EU membership. pic.twitter.com/EOPTteCuCb
The Taoiseach said: "Prime Minister Shmyhal gave me a first-hand account of events on the ground in Ukraine, of the appalling massacres in Bucha in particular, and the continuing attacks on civilians and on towns.
"Clearly the strategy of the Putin regime is not just killing people in an immoral and unjust war in Ukraine, but of causing huge international instability around energy and food.
"The [Ukrainian] Prime Minister outlined some clear objectives, around financial support to enable the Ukrainian government to continue to feed its people, and to keep the economy going despite the enormous destruction caused by the war.
"He reiterated the need for support for Ukraine's European application to join the European Union, and I assured him of Ireland's strong proactive support.
"We also discussed a sixth round of sanctions to create further pressure on Putin's regime to ensure the sanctions create a deterrent against the continuation of this war."
During the meeting, the Ukrainian Prime Minister also spoke of the need for international assistance and expertise to deal with clearing unexploded munitions and cluster bombs, as well as logistic support on excavating residential blocks destroyed by Russian attacks.
He reiterated the determination of the Ukrainian government to protect their people and resist the ongoing aggression by Russian forces in the eastern region.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister was on his way to Washington to seek further help from political and banking leaders in their ongoing war efforts.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland Gerasko Larysa also met the prime minister during his stopover.
Very deliberate attempt by Putin to bomb citizens out of their homes & creat world food & energy crisis Taoiseach @ShannonAirport after meeting 🇺🇦PM Denys Shmyhal @rtenews pic.twitter.com/cYxqC25nYM
— Cathy Halloran (@HalloranCathy) April 20, 2022
With additional reporting by Cathy Halloran
