It is the duty of our State and - following the State’s opt-in to the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018 - a legal requirement to offer accommodation, food and a range of other services (including meals, utilities, healthcare etc.) and allowances to any person who claims a right to international protection in Ireland while their legal claim is being examined.
Since September 2018, due to insufficient capacity within the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) portfolio, IPAS has contracted the use of emergency accommodation in hotels and guesthouses. This was necessary in order to meet the State’s obligations to persons seeking international protection. It is important to note that protection applicants accommodated in such accommodation premises receive all services and allowances as those accommodated in dedicated centres.
Emergency accommodation providers essentially provide a room and full-board service to protection applicants. Dedicated acccommodation centre operators must provide additional support and liaison services and these services, and the requirement for inspection, are contractual obligations for the contactors. One of the most important services which is required is the establishment of a local Friends of the Centre Group to address recreational, cultural and integration needs of residents.
Emergency accommodation providers cooperate with IPAS in the delivery of clinics for residents, currently being provided remotely, and resolution of any complaints from protection residents including dietary requirements and access to local services. They liaise with IPAS in respect of any issues that residents may have which they cannot themselves resolve.
Residents of both the dedicated centres and the emergency premises are required to comply with the IPAS House Rules and Procedures but residents of emergency premises must also comply with the standard house rules of the commercial operators. In most cases such rules are required under law for the operation of commercial residential accommodation.
It should also be noted that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the emergency centres also continued to provide accommodation to other paying guests. However, in order to better protect the international protection residents, IPAS moved to secure such accommodation premises for the exclusive use of IPAS clients.
The inspection process operated by IPAS for dedicated accommodation centres is to ensure adherence to the contractual obligations of contractors. As noted already emergency accommodation providers do not have these contractual obligations. Such premises are required to be compliant by law with health and safety regulations and planning requirements and may be subject to inspections by a range of authorities in this regard, including the relevant Local Authority, the Environmental Health Office of the HSE and the Health and Safety Authority. In addition Bord Failte, as the body responsible for ensuring that accommodation standards meet visitor needs, sets the requirements for the various categories of tourist accommodation and provides for processes for the regular monitoring of the standards in hotels and all other forms of approved accommodation.
Regular visits are made to all emergency accommodation centres by IPAS and any issues that arise are brought to the attention of the accommodation provider for resolution. In addition, all accommodation premises may also be visited by a range of other bodies, including the UNHCR, the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children, civil society organisations and charities. Where issues are brought to the attention of IPAS by such bodies it is endeavoured to resolve them quickly.
The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains a commitment to ending the Direct Provision system and replacing it with a new International Protection accommodation policy, centred on a not-for-profit approach. We have also committed to the development of a White Paper which will set out how this new system will be structured and the steps to achieving it.
My Department is currently developing the White Paper which I expect to publish by the end of the year.
My Department will be giving priority to improving the quality of accommodation by moving away from the use of emergency accommodation and providing own-door accommodation wherever possible in any additional accommodation brought on-stream during the transition process.
