Ireland has at all times endeavoured to provide accommodation and other basic supports to people seeking international protection as is required by law.
The State is currently accommodating over 33,000 people in approximately 305 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country.
The expenditure on IPAS accommodation and supports for 2025 was €1.2 billion and this has reduced to an allocation of over €1.1 billion for accommodation and supports in 2026 (the 2025 figure is provisional pending completion of the 2025 Appropriation Accounts).
While numbers of applicants reduced in 2025 compared to 2024 as the Deputy points out, people are provided with accommodation for the full duration of their application process, and any appeals process that applies. Many of those who applied in 2024 have acquired accommodation in 2025.
Not all international protection applicants are resident in IPAS accommodation and the length of time spent by a person resident in IPAS accommodation will vary depending on the individual circumstances of the person or family's application.
The Department is taking action across all aspects of the international protection accommodation system to improve value for money, strengthen governance and compliance, and renegotiate contracts with providers.
The Department has put improved processes in place for appraisal, validation, contracting and payments. This reform within the accommodation system has laid the basis for continued process improvement and costs savings in 2026.
The introduction of a new rate card model in May 2025 is driving costs down for new and renewed contracts. To date 148 rates have been agreed with contractors, with projected savings in annual contract values of over €83 million. The rate card process is being applied to each contract as it comes up for renewal.
While the rates agreed for contracts are considered commercially sensitive due to ongoing negotiation, the current average nightly contracted rate across the IPAS system is €71.
Developing more State-owned options will allow us to move away from the current degree of reliance on commercial provision. The purchase of the Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre in 2025 was an important milestone in this strategy, and has increased the overall State-owned bed numbers from 900 spaces in 2024 to over 4,000 today.
While commissioning emergency commercial accommodation will continue to be necessary in the short to medium term, it is being contracted on a short-term basis, which will enable the State to decommission this capacity with agility as State-owned beds increase, contracts expire, or demand fluctuates.
