Peadar Tóibín
Question:945. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the current number of IPAS persons and families still living in IPAS centres who have gained citizenship in Ireland. [12759/26]
View answerTuesday, 17 February 2026
Questions (945)
Written answers
The State is currently accommodating over 33,000 people in 311 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country, over 9,800 of whom are children.
Under EU and Irish law, accommodation is provided to people for the duration of their application for international protection.
The Department does not routinely collate data with respect to the number of Irish citizens living in International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation. The vast majority of people in IPAS accommodation are applying for international protection, or have recently completed their application, and are not Irish citizens.
When a person completes their international protection application and receives a positive decision, they have a legal status that allows them to remain in Ireland.
People who are granted status to remain also gain access to the full range of housing supports available to all Irish residents, which are not available to people going through the application process.
Currently, there are almost 5,000 people in IPAS accommodation nationwide that have a legal status allowing them to remain in Ireland. This is not a static number of people; approximately 11,000 people with status have moved out of IPAS accommodation since 2022, and approximately 4,000 of these during 2025.
There is a need for people with status to transition to living independently in our communities, improving their integration into our society while also creating space within IPAS accommodation for newer arrivals.
To help people move from IPAS accommodation to find housing options in the community, IPAS has a team that works in collaboration with DePaul Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and Local Authorities.
It is essential that IPAS maintains enough accommodation to meet the needs of new applicants, who have a legal entitlement to IPAS accommodation, do not have immediate access to the labour market, and do not have access to standard housing benefits or standard social welfare entitlements.