Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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On 27 March 2024, the Government agreed a new Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for International Protection (IP) applicants. The strategy seeks to address the current accommodation shortfall, while reforming the system over the longer term to ensure the State will always be able to meet its international commitments.

Work has begun to deliver on the new strategy including engaging with the Irish Prison Service on developing some of the Thornton Hall site for IP accommodation. A process to investigate the viability of the site is currently ongoing. Once this process is completed, DCEDIY will discuss further with the Irish Prison Service any next steps.

In general, the Department engages with relevant stakeholders and accommodation service providers as appropriate to ensure that international protection applicants placed in accommodation in isolated areas will have access to transportation for basic requirements.

The International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) try to ensure in as far as possible that international protection applicants are not located in remote locations, however, given the current demand for accommodation, this is not always possible. In situations where a centre is located in an area without public transport links within a 2km radius, with manageable access, IPPS will ensure that a shuttle bus service to a nearby town or public transport stop is provided.

This Department engages with the Department of Transport, as the need arises, regarding the expansion of the Local Link network for both International Protection applicants and Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As of 19 May, there are over 30,000 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole (of whom 7,494 are children) compared with approximately 8,700 people at the end of February 2022.

Ireland and many other European countries are experiencing a significant increase in people seeking international protection (IP). The arrival numbers remain significantly elevated. In the first 20 weeks of 2024, nearly 8,000 people have arrived in Ireland seeking accommodation from the State, averaging 398 people per week. This is more than five times the average from 2017-2019. The highest weekly applications in 2024 was over 610 applicants.

Weekly statistics are available publicly on the Gov.ie website.

gov.ie - IPAS Statistics (www.gov.ie)

gov.ie - Accommodation of Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) (www.gov.ie)

Publicly available statistics in relation to the location of International Protection (IP) applicants are provided on a county local authority basis. Please see, in tabular format, the number of IP applicants accommodated in each county across the country in May 2023 and May 2024, respectively.