Over 9,000 people have made offers of support for Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland on the official online portal.

The Government is asking people who wish to offer accommodation to Ukrainian people fleeing the Russian invasion to do so through the Red Cross Portal.

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning the Minister for children Roderic O’Gorman said the portal is now the “centralised location” for all offers of support to Ukrainian refugees.

“Since the crisis has begun, we have now received over 9,000 offers of support from the Irish people so it is a huge outpouring of generosity,” he said.

“In the days ahead, the team we have established will contact people who registered interest on the portal and talk to them about what the actual nature of the pledge is.

“In the weeks to come, I believe many of these pledges will be taken up as we get a broader understanding of the number of refugees who will come to Ireland.”

Support

He was speaking as the Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed that just over 2,500 Ukrainian people fleeing the violence have now arrived in Ireland.

She said two-thirds of the arrivals were female and one third were male. One-third of total are children.

Minister of Gorman said offers of support have been coming in from all over Ireland.

"Generous"

“Every county and indeed counties in Northern Ireland are represented in terms of the very generous offers we have received so far,” he said.

“The allocation will be determined primarily by my department in conjunction with other government departments.”

The outpouring of support from Irish people has led to questions over whether Government ministers would consider opening up their own homes to Ukrainian refuges.

On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, the Justice Minister Helen McEntee said it was something she was considering.