Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan TD has confirmed that 2,987 people seeking International Protection (IP) in Ireland are currently waiting to be offered accommodation, reports Breaking News.
In a written response to the Dáil, Minister O’Callaghan revealed that, during the first four months of this year up to the end of April, 1,404 single male IP applicants were not provided with accommodation upon arrival.
He outlined that the figure of 1,404 breaks down to 402 in April, 301 in March, 359 in February, and 342 in January, reports Breaking News.
Responding to a question from Catherine Connolly TD, Minister O’Callaghan said: “Ireland is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people seeking international protection in over 320 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country.”
He said that to “due to severe shortages of accommodation over recent years, the State was unable to offer accommodation to all people seeking international protection since 2024, and there are currently 2,987 people awaiting an offer of accommodation. Our teams manage a limited supply of accommodation, prioritising people with families or who have specific health needs or other vulnerabilities. This means that single male applicants are most affected by lack of accommodation,” reports Breaking News.
“IPAS has arrangements in place with a range of NGO partners to provide drop-in day services for unaccommodated people. This means people can access facilities including hot showers, meals and laundry services,” reports Breaking News.
“IPAS also makes offers of accommodation to any applicant who is rough sleeping, identified through outreach that is organised 7 days a week,” reports Breaking News.
Minister O’Callaghan said that people who are not offered accommodation are “given a weekly allowance of €113.80 per week, an increase of €75 more than the standard weekly allowance for asylum-seekers”. This means that IPAS has been able to review the cases of people who are awaiting an offer of accommodation, and to make offers of accommodation to some of those who have been waiting the longest, reports Breaking News.
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