Providing reception conditions to people seeking international protection is part of Irish and EU law.
Ireland has seen a sharp increase in the number of people applying for international protection since 2022 and our Department provides accommodation for almost 33,000 international protection applicants today, in over 320 centres located all over the country.
Please see, in tabular format, the total spend on IPAS accommodation in commercial and State-owned accommodation since 2019. Please note the 2024 figure is provisional pending completion of the 2024 Appropriation Accounts.
|
2019
|
€129.408,000
|
|
2020
|
€183,215,000
|
|
2021
|
€190,856,000
|
|
2022
|
€356,554,000
|
|
2023
|
€651,756,000
|
|
2024
|
€1.005 billion
|
The costs outlined below pertain to accommodation for IP applicants, including transport, facilities management, utilities and other related costs.
As previously advised, in circumstances where the Department is actively negotiating contracts for international protection, the matter of the current average per night rate, and the lowest and highest per night rate is considered commercially sensitive, and not in the public interest to disclose.
This is to allow my Department to maintain its negotiating position and attain value in the contracting and contract renewal process.
The average cost of accommodating a person in international protection accommodation centres, including State-owned and commercial accommodation from 2020 to 2024 is set out in the table below. This includes all accommodation and ancillary costs such as facilities management and other related expenditure.
The average cost per night fluctuates due to changes in the number of residents and accommodation centres.
In the table below, an average cost figure per resident per night has been provided for each year by a “point-in-time” average. This is calculated by the total cost in each year, divided by the total number of residents at 31st December in each year, and is indicative only.
All IPAS Accommodation - Average Cost 2020 to 2024
|
Year
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
2023
|
2024
|
|
Average
|
€72
|
€72
|
€50
|
€68
|
€84
|
In addition to this information, while detailed contractual arrangements for IPAS centres are confidential and commercially sensitive, quarterly reports on all payments over €20,000 are available online at: www.gov.ie/en/collection/dfdadb-department-of-children-and-youth-affairs-purchase-orders-for-20000-o/
