In the first week of January 2024, there were 26,473 international protection applicants (IPAs), including 5,758 children, living in State-provided accommodation. An average of 47 people were arriving per day and 376 male asylum seekers were homeless.
Arrivals have dropped since October – there’s an average of 29 arriving now each day.
However, close to 17,600 asylum applications were submitted by the end of November, significantly higher than the total of 13,277 requests made last year.
By mid December 2024, there were 32,619 IPAs, including 9,011 children, in State-provided accommodation. In mid-December, 3,010 male asylum seekers were homeless.
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In August, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee announced the addition of five new countries to the State’s ‘safe’ list. The list of 15 countries is used to fast-track asylum applications and dissuade people from coming here. Civil society groups said they were concerned the list was a “misuse” of legislation, and Amnesty International was “appalled” by the decision to include Egypt given the country’s poor human rights record.
In August, the High Court ruled the State’s failure to meet the basic needs of IPAs experiencing homelessness was in breach of the UN’s charter of fundamental rights, in a case taken by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The State lodged an appeal against the judgment in November.
As the war in Ukraine has raged on, refugees continue to arrive into Ireland.
Around 112,761 Ukrainian refugees have arrived here since February 2022, although 25 per cent of these have since left. More than 29,800 live in State-provided housing, while 22,590 live in pledged accommodation or are hosted by Irish people.
Earlier this year, the Government launched a revised accommodation strategy for IPAs that acknowledged the need to move away from a “wholly reactive response” and full reliance on commercial providers. It committed to “rebuild confidence” among the general public, with “fair and equal distribution” of accommodation.
The State is reportedly now in discussions to buy Dublin’s Citywest Hotel, which has become a key property for accommodating asylum seekers. Cape Wrath Hotel Unlimited, which is owned by Tetrarch Capital and runs the hotel, has been the biggest recipient of State funds for accommodation in recent years.
The State spent €913 million on accommodation for IPAs and Ukrainian refugees during the first half of this year. The total annual bill is expected to reach €1.9 billion.
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