The Offer-a-Home program has received over 1,000 offers for vacant properties since it launched two months ago to help find housing for Ukrainian refugees.
Property owners who participate in the program receive a tax-free government payment of €800 per month.
The housing department said 1,158 vacant listings had been posted in the past eight weeks.
Local authorities contacted 1,077 of the offers and 179 properties were awarded, providing homes for 618 Ukrainians.
As part of the initiative, local authorities are accepting property offers on offerahome.ie and contacting landlords to assess suitability.
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Equality, Disability and Inclusion said Ireland was now hosting more than 75,410 people fleeing Ukraine and seeking international protection.
This compares with 8,000 at the start of 2022.
The spokesperson said the government agreed it was appropriate to move from an emergency response to a more end-to-end approach, including less reliance on sheltered housing.
These include a greater focus on rapid housing construction and a new appeal for vacant homes to be driven by local authorities.
The construction of modular homes is also among the government’s initiatives to house refugees.
In a statement tonight, the Public Works Bureau said it was on track to deliver the first tranche of more than 200 homes built rapidly in early to mid-2023 to provide shelter for some 800 Ukrainians.
It said a second tranche of sites to install the rest of the 500 homes is currently under review for suitability and will be completed and confirmed in the coming weeks.
The Department of Housing identifies the locations and then notifies the OPW.
The first phase of modular homes will be installed in five locations in counties Cavan, Cork, Tipperary, Sligo and Mayo.
Fr Peter McVerry, of the Peter McVerry Trust housing and homeless charity, said: “While I support much of what the Government is doing , they’re doing it too slow and too little. The Government has ordered 700, why not order 7,000? You could have them in place by the end of the year,” reports RTE.
The housing ministry said another strand is the emergency renovation programme, which identifies large properties that can be used for housing such as hotels.
2,500 beds have been identified which are in various stages of availability.
After identification, the data will be transmitted to the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.