Almost 30 percent of Irish hotels are now being used to house refugees and asylum seekers

New figures show numbers have doubled in three weeks

Image via Pixabay

New figures show approx. 240 Irish hotels are now being used to house asylum seekers and refugees – that's almost 30% of the country’s overall hotel stock.

That shows a sharp acceleration in recent weeks - as the need for refugee accommodation continues to grow.

Around 250 B&B's and Guesthouses are also currently being used to accommodate refugees and people seeking international protection.

Earlier this week the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that tourism in Ireland will be negatively impacted as the war in Ukraine – and the housing of tens of thousands of refugees in hotels continues.

At the start of the month, 118 hotels were being used, in just three weeks that figure has doubled.

And despite the number of hotels, guesthouses and B&B's now being used for accommodation purposes, the Government says they are still proactively looking to use more on a temporary basis.