Reception conditions, including accommodation and other basic supports, are provided to international protection applicants under EU and Irish law. The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is currently accommodating almost 33,000 residents.
It is important to note that this is not a static group of people; people who have completed their application process leave IPAS accommodation on a regular basis, and new applicants who choose to take up IPAS accommodation arrive week to week.
Not all international protection applicants take up IPAS accommodation, nor are they obliged to; some applicants make their own accommodation arrangements.
Approximately 11,000 people who have completed their application process and have been granted status that allows them to remain in Ireland have moved out of IPAS accommodation since 2022, and approximately 4,000 of these during 2025.
To help people with status to move on 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.
The new International Protection Act 2026 gives effect to the measures of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact and has passed into law. The new rules came into effect on 12 June. This reform and the increased processing timelines for applications should 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.
