Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 March 2024
1167. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the management company in place in a hotel (details supplied); the total number of other centres it has provided accommodation centres for BOTPS; the cumulative number involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12544/24]
View answerContractual arrangements for the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation centres are deemed confidential and commercially sensitive. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the details of contracts currently held between the Department and providers for accommodation purposes.
In relation to service providers contracted by IPAS to provide accommodation services to International Protection (IP) applicants, the Department publishes reports on all payments over €20,000.These are published, once per quarter, on gov.ie
(www.gov.ie/en/collection/dfdadb-department-of-children-and-youth-affairs-purchase-orders-for-20000-o/#2022)
There are nearly 28,000 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole (of whom 6,356 are children) compared with nearly 20,000 people at this time last year. Together with Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection displaced by the war in Ukraine, this means that Ireland is now accommodating over 100,000 people in state-supported accommodation.
Department officials are working to bring more bed spaces into use. For context, at the end of January 2022 IPAS had 8,300 bed spaces in use; it now has approximately 28,000 beds in use. This does not account for further beds that had been provided to International Protection (IP) applicants in the interim in hotels that have since returned these beds to tourism.
