TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has said that he is confident the time refugees must stay in tents will be “short”. 

The Department of Integration has said that tented accommodation will be the primary source of accommodation for new arrivals from Ukraine after it announced that tents from Electric Picnic would be used to house refugees.

The department signed a contract yesterday that would see up to 750 people housed at the festival site in Stradbally, Co Laois for six weeks.

Speaking to reporters in Israel yesterday, he said that the Irish Government has been in secure accommodation for Ukrainians arriving into Ireland “in the fullness of time”.

“So I would be confident that any stay in tents would be short,” he said. 

Martin said it is “not ideal, of course it’s not”.

He said six months ago, a similar situation arose, but people’s stay in emergency accommodation was short term.

Military-grade tents at the Gormanston army camp in Co Meath and other locations have been used to house refugees temporarily in the last number of months as more permanent accommodation is sourced.

“I think to be fair, most people when we speak to governments across the world are genuinely taken aback when we say over 90,000 Ukrainians have come into Ireland. 

“Not all of those are in tents obviously, the vast vast majority are not in tents,” he added.

“90,000 is an extraordinary number,” he said, stating that the Irish state has never experienced such a situation before, and it creates challenges and issues. 

The decision to use tented accommodation come as other options for those fleeing the war reach capacity, with student accommodation places that had been used by refugees over the summer no longer being available.

The department aims to have the tents at full capacity at Stradbally by Thursday.