Irish families may be asked to open their homes to Ukrainian's fleeing the Russian invasion, the Foreign Affairs Minister has said.

Speaking after Cabinet this afternoon, Simon Coveney said Ireland could take in as many as 20,000 people from Ukraine.

He said the State would not be able to accommodate them all and an “unprecedented response” could be needed from the Irish people.

Minister Coveney noted that Ireland has already waived visa requirements for Ukrainians arriving and announced a €10m humanitarian package.

He said that if a million Ukrainians cross into the EU, Ireland can expect to take in at least 20,000.

“I think, in truth, if we are going to be able to accommodate the numbers that I expect to come here, we are going to have go beyond providing State-provided accommodation,” he said.

“It will probably have to involve families as well who are willing to open up their homes to Ukrainian families for a temporary period of time.

“This is a war effort, so the norms need to be set aside.”

He noted that the EU has not asked countries to take in any specific number of people but noted that Ireland’s intake will “certainly be in the thousands”.

“I don’t think we should be putting actual numbers on because we don’t know, but certainly I think there was a very clear message in Government today that that we will not be found wanting in terms of generosity here,” he said.

The UN has said more than half-a-million people have fled the country so far – with Poland saying 350,000 people have crossed the border.

Minister Coveney also said talks were ongoing at EU level about whether diplomats should be expelled from European embassies.

He said a decision could be taken later today.