The Irish Red Cross has said there are concerns around the housing of Ukrainian refugees if hotel beds are withdrawn for tourists.
Migration advisor to the orgnisation Liam O'Dwyer said: "The fears that we would have would be that a large number of hotel beds would be withdrawn, given the tourist commitment that many of the hotels would have.
"I think the Government has signalled that that could be up to 10,000 to 12,000 beds being withdrawn."
However, Mr O'Dwyer added that the Irish Red Cross is "following up" with people who pledged accommodation and said the majority are "intending to renew" or extend their offers.
"You’ve got the guts of about 11,500 to 12,000 people in pledged accommodation at the moment and the idea is to try and bring that right up further to 15,000-16,000 if possible."
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, Mr O’Dwyer said that modular housing, the renovation of older buildings by the Office of Public Works and the local authority vacant house scheme are providing more accommodation opportunities.
He welcomed Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman’s call for larger buildings to be used in the accommodation crisis and said that there are opportunities within commercial premises too.
"We think that within the commercial sector there are sufficient larger buildings out there, and it's those that should be tackled.
"This morning we received an offer from somebody within the commercial sector to open the building to allow people in. That type of offer is what we’re looking for."
ICL concern over migration terminology use
Chief Executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland Brian Killoran has said the Government must avoid to "inadvertently start mirroring the negative terminology" around migration.
"We preface our conversation by saying the Government's statements are generally quite measured when it comes to migration and when it comes to international protection, and they do have a responsibility to ensure that we have a robust system and that the public are reassured of that as well.
"But in a time of crisis at European level, the temptation can be to inadvertently start mirroring the negative terminology that is being used in some instances around migration.
"Terms like using illegality ... like false stories. These kind of things risk echoing speaking points of anti-migrant activists.
"So we have to be very careful in terms of how we describe migrants. Because at the centre of this they are human beings who are seeking international protection."
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Killoran said that Irish people understand the sensitivities around the topic, and there is a responsibility from politicians to "hold the line".
"I think the Irish public get that. They see people as people and we don’t want to veer off into this negative terminology, so again it’s very important that politically, not just with the Government - opposition parties as well - that we hold the line as best we can around how we talk around migration."
