More hotels will cease providing refugee accommodation in the coming weeks, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
It comes after around 380 asylum seekers living in Hotel Killarney in Co Kerry were given notice that they will "soon" be moved to alternative accommodation.
The Dept spokesperson did not specifically address the situation at Hotel Killarney, but confirmed that "contracts with a small number of hotels providing accommodation for International Protection applicants will come to an end before the end April 2023."
"IPAS (the International Protection Accommodation Service) will work closely with all residents to minimise disruption as much as possible," they said.
They also referenced "the ongoing shortage of accommodation in the IPAS accommodation portfolio due to the unprecedented numbers arrived since the beginning of 2022".
Most of the International Protection applicants living in Hotel Killarney, made up of around 200 single men and dozens of families, have been there since October.
This week, residents received letters from the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) informing them that "the accommodation location would soon no longer be available" as the "contract with the hotel is coming to an end".
Residents were told to expect another letter telling them where they would be moving too and that "due to the severe pressure" on the availability of accommodation people could not request moves to particular locations.
Those with "children of school-going age" would be offered help "in relation to school places" in their new location.
Two mothers who are living at the hotel, and who have children attending local schools, told RTÉ News that this will be the third time in 12 months that they will be relocating with their children.
"I'd prefer to stay" one mother told RTÉ News. "My son has been moving to too many different schools."
She said that she was happy in the hotel, which had a play area for children and where they were given a space to cook their own meals.
She also said that security at the hotel had been increased after an incident on 1 January, when up to 20 male residents were involved in an incident of violent disorder at a hotel.
The men involved were removed from the hotel after the incident, and a number were charged with violent disorder.
Marilyn Counihan, co-ordinator of the Killarney Asylum Seekers Initiative, said the move would be "hard on families and on children in particular".
Last October, plans to move Ukrainian refugees who had been living in the hotel since March to Westport in Co Mayo led to a local community-led campaign calling for them to be allowed to stay in the area.
Local accommodation was then found for the 135 Ukrainians, many of whom worked in the town and had children attending local schools.
A manager for Hotel Killarney said they were not in a position to comment.
Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin has warned that many hotels currently accommodating refugees or asylum seekers have indicated that they will return to the tourism market in March.
Last November, a number of local councillors raised concerns at a meeting of Killarney Municipal District about the potential impact accommodating so many refugees and asylum seekers in hotels in the town could have on tourism.
