Twelve contracts for emergency asylum seeker accommodation have been terminated since the start of the year due to noncompliance issues.
The figure, covering the period up to July 24th, is triple the number of contracts that were ended in all of 2024, while just one such contract was terminated in each of 2022 and 2023, according to figures provided by the Minister for Justice. None was terminated in 2021.
About 490 beds have been removed from the system due to closures so far this year, the Department of Justice said, adding that the closures were due to noncompliance with regulations or contractual breaches.
A department spokesman said the State was accommodating an “unprecedented number of international protection applicants arising from a significant surge in applicants in the post-Covid 19 period”.
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An average of 1,000 people are entering Ireland each month to seek international protection, he said, adding that the State is legally obliged to offer “reception conditions, including accommodation” to each applicant.
When a contract is ended, all asylum seekers living in the affected centre are moved to a new location. International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centres are subject to inspection and compliance checks throughout the lifetime of their contract.
Sinn Féin justice spokesman Matt Carthy said there were “long-standing” concerns related to the granting of contracts for IPAS centres, particularly around the profits made.
The Cavan-Monaghan TD, who received the information via parliamentary questions, said the “sharp rise” in the number of IPAS contracts terminated should be examined in more detail.
“This is very significant and suggests that there wasn’t sufficient checks before contracts were granted to those seeking to profit from the Government’s failures in relation to international protection.”
Mr Carthy said Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan should provide more information about the centre closures and explain the noncompliance issues.
The IPAS is accommodating nearly 33,000 residents across the State. Of those, almost 400 people are living in tented accommodation centres, the department said.
About 25,000 residents, including 7,495 children, are staying in emergency IPAS accommodation centres.
The department spokesman said “huge efforts” were under way to develop “a more stable and sustainable accommodation system in the long term”.
“This approach aims to drive the delivery of over 14,000 State-owned beds. While the State will continue to use commercial providers in the short and medium term, over time the new strategy will help to reduce reliance on the private market for accommodation.”
