Thirty-three Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Ireland this week were informed that there was no accommodation for them yesterday.
All of them were tried for the first time and received Temporary Protected Status at Citywest.
The Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said all those who were turned away without housing were single men.
It said no newly arrived women or children were turned away.
The Capuchin Day Center welcomed more than a dozen Ukrainian refugees this morning, all with luggage.
RTÉ News spoke to some of them who said they spent the night sleeping at Dublin airport after being turned away by Citywest.
On Thursday, the department said the Citywest transit center was full.
Minister Roderic O’Gorman said that while the most vulnerable will be provided with housing this weekend, others will not be offered anything and it cannot be ruled out that as a result people may sleep outdoors.
Similarly, applicants for international protection are rejected without accommodation, but no data is available on how many have already been informed that there is no accommodation for them.
Martin Heydon, Minister of State at the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said the government “cannot guarantee” a bed for every refugee arriving in Ireland.
Heydon said that the Irish government and society have made enormous efforts to deal with the scale of the crisis and the influx of Ukrainian refugees.
‘We are talking about 60,000 people who have come to our shores this year, who are seeking and who have been accommodated by the State. Today, that compares to 7,250 this time last year, that’s the equivalent of the population of Waterford city,” he said, reports RTE.
The head of community policy and communication, Simon, said the situation for Ukrainian refugees is very worrying and will likely worsen if large numbers continue to arrive.
Speaking on RTÉ on Saturday with Katie Hannon, Wayne Stanley said frontline services like Simon will continue to try to support people, but there is no capacity in the system to receive people.
This is a perfect storm, he said, and the next few weeks are going to be very difficult.
Mr Stanley said he had experienced one or two isolated incidents of refugees sleeping restless, but so far the awareness teams have not seen large numbers of people on the streets.
He said vulnerable people are screened upon arrival, but warned that families could also be involved in the crisis.
Speaking on the same show, Heydon said that he understood that 33 Ukrainian men were tried at Citywest but could not be accommodated last night.
“We can’t guarantee everyone who comes here a bed right now,,” he added, reported RTE.
According to RTE, he said this was “a really disappointing place for us to be in”.
He said land earmarked for Housing for All should be used for modular housing for refugees and the Irish.
Fine Gael TD for Kildare South said the Office of Public Works and the Integration Department are conducting a review of land in Kildare that has been identified for modular homes.
Sligo – Leitrim Independent TD Marian Harkin said a delicate balance had to be struck.
She said that there is a duty to provide shelter and security, but the country is at its best.
Paul Murphy, People Before Profit’s TD for South West Dublin, has called on the government to take more hotel rooms to house refugees and people facing eviction.
Murphy said the state currently has 16,000 of the 62,000 hotel rooms.
He said vacant properties need to be managed for the long term.
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