Almost 1,400 people seeking international protection in Ireland experienced homelessness for up to 10 weeks since the start of the year due to a shortage of available State accommodation, a new report has found.
That figure includes three pregnant women and four unaccompanied children who had been deemed ineligible for State childcare services, according to the Irish Refugee Council (IRC).
The State’s ability to accommodate refugees and asylum seekers has been under consistent and severe pressure since last year, when there were a record 13,651 applications, in addition to the tens of thousands of Ukrainians also seeking refuge from the Russian invasion.
As a result of the demand, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said at the end of January that the State “cannot guarantee accommodation for everyone who comes to the country unannounced”.
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The IRC, which on Monday published a report on homelessness among international protection applicants, said that at one point there was a total of 593 people seeking protection who were experiencing homelessness. Among the total of almost 1,400 applicants sleeping rough there were 56 couples and seven single women.
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More than 450 people experiencing homelessness contacted the IRC for support, with 38 per cent of those reporting physical or mental health concerns.
The council said it has supported three pregnant women who experienced homelessness. It added what was of “deep concern” were the cases of four unaccompanied children who had to sleep rough for up to six weeks after being assessed as ineligible for State childcare services.
Of the four children, two have since been taken into Tusla care. The other two have received evidence of their age and are awaiting reassessments while currently living in adult accommodation, the IRC said.
The weekly payment of €38.80, and eligibility for the Additional Needs Payment, is “insufficient to meet a person’s means while experiencing homelessness”, the report said.
Nick Henderson, chief executive of the IRC, said the findings show “destitution among those who have been forced into homelessness”.
“We are extremely concerned that safeguards have not been put in place to identify vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women and people with serious mental and physical health concerns.”
One applicant included in the report, Khan, experienced homelessness for 73 days. “When they told me there was no accommodation, it was very painful for me. What will I do now? There is nothing, no one I know here.”
Desperation as asylum seeker accommodation crisis deepens
A spokesman for Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said “significant efforts” had been made to reduce the number of applicants entering homelessness upon their arrival in Ireland. The number of homeless applicants has reduced from a high of almost 600 to about 50.
“There are pressures in terms of the numbers coming in has slightly increased in the last couple of weeks, and there’s always the issue of hotels who might return to tourism, and we lose those accommodation spaces. There is pressure coming from both sides, so it’s not necessarily that we’ve cleared all who weren’t accommodated and it won’t return,” the spokesman said.
Last week it emerged that tented accommodation for asylum seekers is to be set up on the grounds of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, south Dublin. Negotiations are also taking place for the establishment of another similar facility.
The spokesman said it is intended that the Dundrum facility, as well as others yet to come onstream, will provide shelter to those who cannot immediately be provided with regular accommodation.
“They [applicants] would be transferred to this facility or another facility that is not onstream yet, and they will be processed as usual, and if accommodation does become available, they will be transferred. It is intended people will stay there for a very short period.”
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