There have been renewed calls for holiday homes to be used as accommodation for refugees.
The Minister Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman, warned yesterday that hotels currently providing shelter for refugees will revert to tourism in March and April.
A member of the government's External Advisory Group on ending Direct Provision, Dr Lorcan Sirr, says there are thousands of holiday homes around the country vacant for much of the year.
Dr Sirr, who's a Senior Lecturer in housing, planning and development at the Technological University Dublin, thinks more could be done to encourage owners of holiday homes to make their properties available for refugees.
"We've indentified several areas that could be used, the most important one is holiday homes.
"We have 66,000 holiday homes across the country, the vast majority of which lie unoccupied for 90% of the year. Even if you only got 10% or 20% of those it would be a great start.
"I know the Department of Children have put out a call looking for them, but more needs to be done to do that."
