Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 July 2026
65. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of asylum seekers that are currently sleeping rough; his plans to stop this from happening; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49380/26]
View answerIreland is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people in approximately 303 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country.
From the end of 2023, accommodation shortages meant that not all applicants could be offered an accommodation place. From that period on, IPAS prioritised women, children and those who were most vulnerable for the limited accommodation available.
IPAS was unable to offer accommodation to all single male applicants for international protection from December 2023. People who were not offered accommodation are given a weekly allowance of €113.80 per week, an increase of €75 from the standard weekly allowance for asylum-seekers.
Many applicants make their own accommodation arrangements and therefore are not rough-sleeping. IPAS has arrangements in place with a range of NGO partners to provide drop-in day services so people can access facilities including hot showers, meals and laundry services.
IPAS teams can make offers of accommodation to any applicant who is rough-sleeping, identified through outreach.
Since March 2025, IPAS has been able to review the cases of people who are awaiting an offer of accommodation and make offers to those who have been waiting longest, using the information they have provided to the International Protection Office (IPO).
Through various actions taken since I have taken office, the number of people unaccommodated has reduced from over 3,500 to 914 currently.
The new International Protection Act 2026 gives effect to the measures of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact and was passed into law last month. The new rules came into effect on 12 June. Reforming and speeding up processing of applications should also serve over time to reduce the scale of the demand for international protection accommodation.
Additionally, my Department is working to increase the amount of State-owned international protection accommodation and creating a more stable and sustainable accommodation system. The purchase of the Citywest Reception Centre in 2025 was an important step in this strategy, and increased State-owned beds to 4,000 in 2025, compared to 900 in early 2024.
