Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that it is not "realistic, legal or practical" for Ireland to no longer accept international protection seekers.
It comes as Cabinet ministers sign off on a plan to donate €1.5 million to Europe instead of accepting 350 asylum seekers it previously said that it would accommodate.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman brought the memo to Cabinet on Thursday morning.
READ MORE: Cabinet to decide if Ireland should offer €1.5m to EU in lieu of housing 350 asylum seekers
In June 2022, Ireland signed up to the European Union’s Voluntary Solidarity Mechanism. This was done to relocate huge numbers of asylum seekers arriving in Mediterranean countries. States could either agree to make a financial contribution or take in asylum seekers. Ireland chose to accept 350 international protection applicants but has now said that it cannot take them due to pressure on the system.
Speaking on his way into Cabinet, Mr Varadkar said that Ireland will continue to accept asylum seekers despite calls from some for a cap to be put on the number of new arrivals.
The Taoiseach said: "I know there are some people that would like us to put a limit on the number of people seeking international protection in Ireland. That's not realistic, it's not legal, it's not practical.
"But we can manage the flows better and that's one thing that we're trying to do."
Mr Varadkar said that Ireland is now one of the countries in Europe whose international protection system is coming under pressure.
He stressed that while Ireland cannot accept the 350 people, it is allowed to make a financial payment instead.
"About two years ago, we decided as Government that we would help the countries in the Mediterranean," the Taoiseach continued.
"At the time they were experiencing a migration crisis, huge numbers of people coming from Africa to the Mediterranean.
"We decided that we would take 350 asylum seekers from those Mediterranean countries at the Council of Europe.
"Things have changed fundamentally since then. We’re now one of the countries under pressure because we have taken in nearly 100,000 people, mainly from Ukraine but also from other parts of the world.
"That changes things and we are now no longer able to accept those 350 people from the Mediterranean. But we are going to make a financial contribution instead, which is allowed under the voluntary effort-sharing regulation."
Ministers McEntee and O’Gorman were expected to tell their Cabinet colleagues that due to the large unforeseen increase in the number of international protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees, the State's capacity to provide accommodation to an additional 350 people is "under severe pressure".
The Government has continuously struggled to source accommodation for international protection seekers. There were 119 people without accommodation on Wednesday.
READ NEXT:
Cancer campaigner Trina Cleary sends supporters last message as death announced
Storm Oscar will change weather over Ireland amid big swing on charts
Get news updates direct to your inbox by signing up to our daily newsletter here
