A housing expert says the Government should be looking at flat-rate, untaxed payments to holiday home owners that house Ukrainian refugees.

Lorcan Sirr was speaking as refugees are set to be placed in emergency accommodation as space in hotels runs out.

Just under 25,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland, 85% percent of whom are women and children.

Sirr, a housing lecturer at TU Dublin, told Pat Kenny there are more options available.

"There's been a lot of talk and suggestions about vacant buildings and constructing new homes... but they're all solutions that take time in the medium to long-term.

"But in the immediate-term there's two really good sources of accommodation that we could look to.

"The first one is holiday homes: there's about 62,000 what are called unoccupied holidays homes around the country."

He says while some are used as rental or investment properties, "a lot of them aren't - and a lot of them are in or close to towns and villages around the country.

"I would propose that we need a kind of a flat-rate payment of somewhere around €300 to €400 a month.

"In theory, that would provide for a decent accommodation in Spain or Italy - or wherever you're going - a decent holiday for the family that were forgoing the holiday home".

He also suggests people would not have to forgo their holiday homes for the foreseeable future.

"They can always organise a house swap with the Ukraine refugees who are in their holiday home for the period of time that they're not in their home in Dublin, Cork, Galway or wherever they're coming from".

'Newly-built apartments'

But he says payments could not be market rates, as this is not something the country could afford.

"What I wouldn't like to see, and what I wouldn't like the Government to do, is propose market rates of rent: 700 a week or 1,500/2,000 month.

"I don't think we could afford that - but I think a flat rate payment would be sufficient".

Sirr also suggests that vacant apartments should be used.

Last year, around 420 newly-built apartments were coming on to the market every month.

He says: "We're churning out an awful lot of them... whereas a lot of them are occupied already, there's an awful lot coming on stream every month that aren't occupied.

"And I think the Government would be wise to look at taking a proportion of those as well.

"And again a flat-rate payment, not a market-rate payment.

"These would have the advantage - because they're nearly all in large urban areas like Dublin and Galway and Cork - they'd have the advantage of being in congregated settings.

"But also much closer to services like schools and doctors and support services that refugees might need".

As previously mentioned, he says the Government could use emergency powers to compel the use of unoccupied properties for refugees.