Due to "lack of availability", 201 refugees fled Ireland without accommodation.

200 refugees were left without accommodation in Ireland this week due to "lack of availability".

The Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Young People has confirmed that between Thursday 1 September and yesterday, 201 asylum seekers were left without accommodation.

The Department said that owing to a "lack of availability," the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) was unable to house the people.

But it also stated that IPAS "is in a position to resume giving lodging" as of right now. The situation "remains tough," it was stated.

The Department stated that Citywest will initially house recently arrived asylum seekers.

Cabinet approved a plan to rent the Citywest Hotel in Dublin for two years earlier this summer to house Ukrainian refugees.

About 2,300 war refugees can stay at the hotel and convention centre.

According to a Tuesday RTÉ News report, there are now not enough places to house 130 recently arrived asylum seekers. The 201 number revealed today represents a huge increase over the previous few days.

The Irish Refugee Council's CEO, Nick Henderson, stated earlier this week that they "had never experienced anything like this."

"The standards in direct provision and emergency accommodation have been declining for a number of months now, but this constitutes a new degradation and it means that someone coming to Ireland for shelter from conflict or persecution is in fact homeless," he said.

The National Indoor Athletics Centre, which is part of the National Indoor Arena, will be made available to help with emergency refugee housing, Sport Ireland stated last week.

The State-owned facility will be accessible as part of an emergency response strategy for up to six weeks.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, some 48,000 Ukrainian migrants have entered Ireland.