800 percent IPAS bed increase in Mayo since 2022

Figures released to The Mayo News show that the number of IPAS residents in Mayo has increased from 211 at the end of 2021 to a current figure of 1745. This represents an 827 percent increase.

The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) is a government body in Ireland responsible for providing accommodation and support to people applying for international protection.

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The figures nationally show that in the same time frame, the number of people resident in IPAS accommodation has increased by approximately 400 percent, due to increased application numbers during the period. This shows that Mayo has seen an increase that is more than twice the national average.

Nationwide, the State is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people in over 320 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country, about 9,500 of whom are children with their families.

The cost of IPAS accommodation nationally for the first three months of this year was €269.5 million, according to figures published by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

The total cost may be higher however, as these figures only contain payments over €20,000.

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Included in these payments is Tirawley Limited, which trades as Breaffy House Resort. In the first three months of this year, it received payments totalling €2,458,335.00 for the provision of IPAS accommodation and/or related costs.

Change in approach

Last week, the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, secured Cabinet approval for the State to purchase Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre for international protection accommodation for more than €148 million.

This signals a move towards state-owned and state-run IPAS accommodation.

The Minister stated that “state-owned centres are part of the Government’s long-term plan to reduce the reliance on private accommodation providers in communities resulting in better value for money of public funds and a more efficient international protection system.”

A core stock of 14,000 State-owned beds is to be delivered by 2028, supplemented by commercial providers as needed.

To this end, the government recently issued an E-tender for expressions of interest from people and businesses interested in selling or leasing vacant properties, in turn key condition, for use as IPAS accommodation.

The Department of Justice has confirmed to The Mayo News that they are currently working through the 131 submissions. As they are in the process of reviewing the submissions, they were unable to state if any were from Mayo and did not have a timeline as to when the process would be completed.

Interestingly, looking ahead, the recently published IPAS Weekly Accommodation and Arrivals Statistics from the Department show that the number of asylum seekers arriving into the country is consistently down each week so far this year, compared with last year.