The Government has agreed to lease the Citywest Hotel in Dublin for two years to house Ukrainian refugees.

Cabinet was last night told the owners of the 764-room hotel had agreed to the plan.

The licence agreement is expected to allow for three people to be accommodated in each room.

Around 300 people from Ukraine are already living at the hotel and it is expected up to 2,000 will eventually be housed there.

The exact costs of the agreement are not being made public for commercial reasons.

The Government will also provide the residents three meals per day and support services.

Meanwhile, Cabinet was also asked to approve a €10.5m package to support the community response for people arriving from the war-torn country.

Some €5m is due to be invested in the ‘Ireland for Ukraine Fund’ run by Community Foundation Ireland and a further €5m will support local development companies.

Finally, €500,000 will go to support volunteer centres that have seen a huge increase in demand for services.

It comes as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has warned the situation in the east of the country is "extremely difficult" as Russian forces continue a savage shelling campaign.

The majority of the city of Severodonetsk, which has held out against the bombardment for weeks, is now under Russian control.

The US President Joe Biden has pledged to provide Ukraine with more advanced rocket systems and military weapons to assist in their fight against Russia.