There have been 27 critical incidents at International Protection Accommodation Service centres to date this year.
In new figures, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan confirmed that the 27 critical incidents compare to 62 for the full 12 months of 2025 and 55 for 2024, reports Breaking News.
The 27 critical incidents to date this year also compare to 50 for 2023, 37 for 2022 and 14 for 2021.
In a written Dáil reply to deputy Ken O’Flynn of Independent Ireland, Minister O’Callaghan stated that “it should be noted when reviewing the statistics that the number of people living in IPAS accommodation has increased very significantly over the last five years,” reports Breaking News.
Minister O’Callaghan said current resident numbers stand at approximately 33,000 across 305 IPAS centres, compared to just over 7,000 at the end of 2021.
IPAS centres accommodate International Protection applicants from across the world who are seeking asylum in Ireland, reports Breaking News.
Minister O’Callaghan said that “centre management in all IPAS centres have an ongoing working relationship with the local GardaÃ. If there is ever any concern in relation to acts of violence or other criminal activity in any IPAS setting, An Garda SÃochána are contacted.”
In addition, Minister O’Callaghan stated that 2,568 incidents have been recorded at IPAS centres to date this year, compared to 5,725 last year, reports Breaking News.
“Incidents that arise in centres are defined and set out in IPAS policies, from a broad scale of general, minor issues related to complaints about behaviour or noise, to incidents considered critical in that they relate to mental health or self-harm incidents, including the unexpected death of a resident.
“When any incident occurs, IPAS teams engage with centre management to resolve the issue at hand. In this regard, the Department routinely engages with all providers in relation to incident response and policy compliance,” reports Breaking News.
Minister O’Callaghan stated that 1,909 warning letters have been issued to IPAS centre residents this year, compared to 4,127 for 2025 and 3,170 for 2024.
Minister O’Callaghan also confirmed that 239 transfers between IPAS centres have taken place this year, compared to 544 last year and 521 for 2024, reports Breaking News.
In a separate written Dáil response to Paul Lawless of Aontú, Minister O’Callaghan said the department allocation for IPAS accommodation this year is €1.1 billion.
He said this compares to a spend of €1.27 billion for 2025, adding: “This is the first time in five years that the budget for international protection accommodation and supports is less than the previous year,” reports Breaking News.
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