The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) provides accommodation and other basic supports to people applying for international protection in Ireland. This is part of EU and Irish law.
IPAS currently provides accommodation for over 33,000 people, and 9,000 of these are children with their families. IPAS has 325 accommodation centres across the country, based in every county.
As part of our work to source and develop international protection accommodation, the Department receives multiple offers of accommodation from property owners and providers around the country.
The contracting of properties as emergency centres is partly dependent on the receipt of offers from external providers, and the Department cannot predetermine their geographical location.
The Department has a dedicated team within the International Protection and Integration Division who manage and appraise offers received of emergency commercial international protection accommodation.
The detail of offers of potential accommodation and their appraisal is subject to confidentiality and is commercially sensitive, so the Department is not in a position to publish details of offers received in the format requested.
However, from 2024 to date, the Department’s Community Engagement Team (CET) has issued a total of 90 briefing notes about new IPAS accommodation centres. These are shared with local representatives and community groups in an area where a new properties is being contracted to provide emergency international protection accommodation.
In meeting our obligation to provide material reception conditions to people seeking international protection, the Department can consider offers of accommodation from a tax-compliant company, subject to compliance with statutory requirements, planning, building and fire regulations, and minimum standards.
Once an offer is received with respect to accommodation for international protection applicants, it is assessed for suitability. This includes a range of factors such as previous use of the property, accommodation suitability, rates, room sizes, capacity and amenities, information on the building's safety and fitness for occupancy, and various other criteria such as Wi-Fi, security provision and staffing. Not all properties progress through the appraisal process.
In all instances where the Department enters into a contract with an accommodation provider, all statutory requirements relating to the establishment and management of accommodation are met by the service provider, including health and safety, fire, building regulations and other requirements.
Should a decision be made to accommodate people at a new centre, the Community Engagement Team will then provide detailed information to local stakeholders including elected representatives, in advance. The briefing note will give the full details of the property including the contracted capacity, resident profile and details about how the centre will be managed.
Information about the numbers of people seeking international protection and their nationality is published here: www.gov.ie/en/collection/48a28-international-protection-in-numbers/
Statistics about accommodation for people seeking international protection is published on a weekly basis and is available here: www.gov.ie/en/collection/90641-statistics/
