The State spent €1.43 billion on accommodation for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees during the first nine months of 2024, according to the latest figures from the Department of Integration.
Cape Wrath Hotel Unlimited received close to €53 million to accommodate international protection applicants (IPAs) and Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTPs) between the start of January and the end of September 2024, making it the highest recipient of State payments during the first three quarters of last year.
Cape Wrath, which is a key property in the State’s international protection accommodation system, is owned by investment group Tetrarch Capital and runs the 764-bed Citywest Hotel and convention centre in Saggart, Co Dublin. It received a total of €52.7 million in State funding for accommodation during the first nine months of last year. In 2023, the company received a total of €53.7 million in State payments through Department of Integration purchase orders.
It was reported in 2024 that the State is in discussions to buy the Citywest Hotel, as well as a number of other hotel properties, in deals which will reach hundreds of millions of euro.
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The latest Department of Integration quarterly purchase order figures reveal large hotel groups and companies continue to be paid tens of millions of euro in Government contracts to provide accommodation for people seeking asylum and Ukrainian refugees.
The Department of Integration spent €488,113,641 on IPA and Ukrainian refugee accommodation during the third quarter of 2024.
Guestford Limited, which trades as the Red Cow Moran Hotel, received the second highest accommodation payments during the first three quarters of 2024, at €26.5 million.
The third biggest recipient was Travelodge Hotels, owned by hotel operator Tifco, which received €24.9 million in accommodation payments.
Tifco was separately paid €16 million for asylum seeker accommodation “and/or related costs” between January and September 2024.
Holiday Inn at Dublin Airport received the fourth highest State payment of €24.6 million for accommodation provision last year, while Total Experience Ltd received €21.9 million to accommodate asylum seekers and Ukrainians.
Some 32,789 international protection applicants, including 9,193 children, are living in 326 accommodation centres across the State, according to the latest Government data for January 2025. This includes 681 asylum seekers living in six tented accommodation centres. An additional 3,244 male asylum seekers are homeless and awaiting an offer of accommodation.
Separately, 28,838 Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection are living in State-supported accommodation, according to Government figures. This compares to the 58,048 Ukrainians in State supported accommodation one year ago, in January 2024.
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