The head of the Irish Red Cross says pledges to help Ukrainian people are 'on a different scale' than anything they have seen before.
More than 20,000 people have registered pledges on its database to help refugees.
While over 4,000 people have pledged vacant properties to house Ukrainian families.
Liam O'Dwyer is secretary-general of the Irish Red Cross.
He told Pat Kenny an operation to check those properties begins today.
"Just over 20,000 people have registered pledges on the database.
"Of that number, roughly, the breakdown is a third would be for vacant properties - and then two-thirds for the shared properties.
"So what we're doing at the moment is... in cooperation with the Defence Forces and with the Irish Property and Valuers Association, we will be starting calling people who have vacant properties - who've pledged those properties.
"The Defence Forces will make the call, and ask for permission for one of our colleagues from the Valuers Association to call to the house to check out the house".
'That begins today'
Liam says this is mainly for health and safety reasons - while Microsoft is also contributing to the effort.
"If there's anything missing, that's the other side of it, we'll ask them to record that and get the information back to us.
"Microsoft helped us with an app to do this electronically from a mobile phone... so that begins today".
And he says the pledges are much higher when compared to those made for Syrian refugees, for example.
"When that happened we received nearly 1,000 pledges - and to be honest, we were absolutely delighted with 1,000 pledges.
"This is on a different scale - at over 20,000 pledges.
"And it's not just ourselves: there are other organisations, other NGOs - the Refugee Council being one - who have also received pledges.
"And I know also there's a lot of work going on out there just between families; so a family might have their relatives come over from Ukraine.
"And they're asking people in the locality 'Would you take some of the family?' - and those informal arrangements are also happening".
It is believed that some 8,500 people have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine so far.
