Doubling the payment to those offering accommodation to Ukrainian refugees could cost the State €2.4m a month.
It comes as the Government examines whether modular homes can be built at five army barracks across the country to ease the current accommodation shortfall.
One facility could be used to accommodate 100 refugees “almost immediately”, it is understood.
Despite a lengthy Cabinet sub-committee meeting on Monday evening, Ministers did not discuss the accommodation crisis at its weekly meeting on Tuesday.
The Cabinet will sign off on new plans for accommodation either later this week or at next Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
Options on the table include doubling the €400 payment to those who pledge accommodation to €800. This would be brought in “as soon as possible” once signed off by Cabinet.
It was unclear whether this increased payment would be backdated, with several sources saying they imagined it would not be.
The Department of Integration confirmed to The Mirror that 3,046 people are currently in receipt of the Accommodation Recognition Payment.
If the payment is doubled, the Government could be paying about €2.4m a month on the scheme. It is currently expected that the payment will be in place until the end of March.
The Government also intends to increase the use of modular houses. To date, plans are in place to build 700 homes that could accommodate 2,800 people.
The Mirror understands lands at five Defence Forces barracks sites have now been offered to the Office of Public Works for modular builds.
One facility has been identified that can be used to accommodate around 100 people almost immediately.
Elsewhere, Government sources refuted suggestions that the Department of Integration had turned down viable offers of accommodation.
There have been a number of suggestions that hotel owners contacted the Government with offers of accommodation but their offer was declined.
One Government source said some people are offering accommodation at “prohibitive prices” and are hiking up prices in a bid to take advantage of the situation.
“Cowboys are offering unacceptable accommodation,” one senior source said.
The Irish Mirror also understands that the relationship between the Department of Integration and the Irish Red Cross has “effectively come to an end” and pledged accommodation will now be dealt with by local authorities.
Some 2,850 properties are awaiting placement and are currently being acted on by NGOs and Local Authorities.
Minister Roderic O’Gorman and his officials met with Ukrainian Ambassador Larysa Gerasko to discuss issues on Tuesday.
While there will now be a fresh call by the Department of Housing and the local authorities to secure accommodation, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that he could not put an exact figure on how much accommodation could be secured in the coming days.
“We need to be honest with people that this is likely to get worse before it gets better as the war in Ukraine is escalating,” he said.
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