Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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276. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the total number of properties and corresponding beds offered to his Department that met the requirements under both the IPAS and BOTP schemes, by county, since 1 January 2023 to date, in tabular form; the total number of contracts entered into by his Department; the opposing number of contracts that were not progressed, by county, in tabular form for the corresponding period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17083/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Since the outset of the war in Ukraine in early 2022, Ireland has provided accommodation to over 112,000 people between those fleeing Ukraine and International Protection applicants.

IPAS

The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is working tirelessly to bring more bed spaces into use, and since January 2023 have brought 125 properties into use to accommodate those who arrive in Ireland seeking international protection (IP). This brings the total number of IPAS centres to 280 with a capacity of 32,523 as of 7th April 2024. My Department does not publicly detail the locations of such accommodation centres in the interest of the privacy and security of residents and providers and therefore the breakdown of these figure by county is not available.

In relation to the opposing number of contracts that were not progressed by IPAS, by county, in tabular form, my Department does not collate information in the manner requested.

BOTP

The information in relation to the number of properties and beds for Ukrainian BOTPs per county which met offer criteria and were put into contract by my Department since 1st January 2023 to date is provided in tabular format below.

Since 1 January 2023 to date, my Department entered into 228 contracts for new Ukrainian BOTP emergency accommodation.

Since 1 January 2023 to date, the total number of Ukrainian BOTP offers of emergency accommodation received by my Department via the DCEDIY online portal that did not progress to a contract is 2,891. My Department does not collate this information by county and a breakdown by county is therefore not available.

The Deputy may wish to note that my Department has recently undertaken a priority review of capacity within the BOTP portfolio to identify any vacancies that can be used for IPs in the short term and has begun engaging with providers in this regard. Up to 500 spaces have been identified and actions are now underway to move IPs into properties where BOTPs are and where vacancies exist with the agreement of the providers concerned.

Following the Government decision to implement a time limited accommodation offering for those seeking accommodation in the State, my Department has paused the procurement of commercial accommodation to accommodate BOTPs; providers visiting the offers portal are instead encouraged to consider accommodating IPs. Work has also begun to consolidate the wider BOTP portfolio so that it better aligns with future needs. Where contracts are being ended as part of this process, my Department will work to identify accommodation which could be suitable for use for IP. This is however a commercial decision to be made by the providers concerned and their agreement will be needed to make this happen.