Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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231. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the contract for IPAS accommodation at a location (details supplied) was cancelled, paused or if the Department have to contractually pay for any invoices received for the premises since the contract commencement date of 17 January 2024, despite no IPAS applicants being on site since 17 January due to planning issues raised at the time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19971/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. This information will be provided directly to the Deputy in the coming days.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The significant increase in numbers of arrivals and constraints on available accommodation across the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) portfolio placed extreme pressure on IPAS resources, including the Vulnerability Assessment Programme. As a result, a decision was made to suspend the programme and to seek to procure an external contractor to manage it.

Following the suspension, resources were redirected to support operations across the Resident Welfare Team and IPAS overall, including to conduct triage of newly arrived single male applicants and identify those with very high needs requiring priority for accommodation when available. Support remains available for International Protection (IP) applicants in IPAS accommodation centres through a number of channels.

The programme was formally suspended in March 2024 and the decision was communicated along with a suite of information to all of those queued for assessment, IPAS accommodation managers, NGO partners, all relevant stakeholders and the Department’s website at Suspension of VA Programme - www.gov.ie/en/publication/58397-resident-welfare/#suspension-of-the-vulnerability-assessment-pilot-programme .

A Request for Tender was published on eTenders.gov.ie on 19 April 2024, with a closing date of 23 May 2024.

www.gov.ie/en/publication/58397-resident-welfare/#suspension-of-the-vulnerability-assessment-pilot-programme