Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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437. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide details of the number of asylum seekers who have arrived in Ireland since the start of the year and a breakdown by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49648/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Under the Recast Reception Conditions Directive (SI 230 of 2018), the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) is legally required to provide accommodation to international protection applicants who seek it while their claim for international protection is being determined by the International Protection Office which falls under the aegis of the Department of Justice.

Ireland, like many other European countries, are experiencing a significant increase of people seeking international protection (IP). Last year, over 15,000 people arrived in Ireland seeking accommodation while their applications for international protection are processed by the International Protection Office (IPO).

As at 5^thNovember 2023, there are over 25,206 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole, of whom 5,260 are children. Based on projected arrivals for 2023, there could be over 30,000 people in IPAS accommodation by year end.

The arrival numbers remain significantly elevated. In the first forty-four weeks of 2023, nearly 9,600 people have arrived seeking accommodation from the State, averaging 218 people per week. This is more than triple the average from 2017-2019.

These figures are combined with the arrival of over 84,480 people displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the largest displacement of people in Europe since the Second World War. Over 73,000 of those people are in State-provided accommodation.

Please see, in tabular format, the number of people who are currently accommodated by IPAS, broken down per county.