IPAS speculation continues in Wexford as council can't assess wastewater capacity of potential sites
With speculation continuing to mount that at least one new International Protection Accommodation Scheme (IPAS) centre is to be opened in the Wexford village of Killnick, the local council has said it can't assess the environmental impact of potentially 100 residents until they actually move in.
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Irish Times
04-07-2025
- Irish Times
‘I'm so scared': Families left in limbo after being told they need to leave IPAS centres
A number families currently living in International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres in Dublin are worried they will have nowhere to live after being informed they need to leave their current accommodation in the coming days. Several families living in IPAS centres in Inchicore Suites, Dublin 8, and the Red Cow Hotel in Clondalkin, Dublin 22, were previously informed that they needed to leave their accommodation by Friday, July 4th. The families in question have been granted asylum status so are free to remain in Ireland but have struggled to find alternative accommodation, despite their efforts in recent months. A number of families received letters in March advising them that, as they have permission to remain in Ireland, IPAS can no longer accommodate them due to the huge demand on their services. READ MORE The letters, seen by The Irish Times, state: 'Owing to the urgent need, we must now ask you to move to independent alternative accommodation in the community on Friday 4th July 2025. This step is required to ensure that there is sufficient space in IPAS accommodation centres to meet our legal obligation of housing those people still in the process of seeking International Protection.' The letter also states that, if people have been unable to secure alternative accommodation by Friday, IPAS 'may provide alternative temporary emergency accommodation'. However, it adds: 'Given the limitations on IPAS accommodation this emergency accommodation is not likely to be in the area you currently reside.' The Irish Times spoke to a number of mothers on Thursday who say they have been left in limbo, unsure of whether or not they will have to move out on Friday – and where they might end up. The mothers are working in the area, and their children are attending local schools. They said that uprooting their families and moving far away would be incredibly difficult, especially on their children. One woman who lives in the IPAS centre in Inchicore said she is very worried about what will happen to her, her husband and three young children. The family has lived in Inchicore for almost two years. The parents are both working, the two older children are in a local school and their youngest child has just secured a place in a local creche. She and her husband have been to several viewings in various locations across Dublin but have been unable to secure a new home. The woman said she and her husband are earning money and are also in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) so they can afford to rent a house. However, every viewing to date has been unsuccessful. [ People with right to remain in Ireland stuck in direct provision centres due to lack of housing, Hiqa finds Opens in new window ] Despite not having anywhere to go on Friday, she said the family have packed up all their belongings in case they are asked to leave. 'I'm so scared, I'm so confused of what to do and what not to do.' The Irish Times also spoke to four single mothers who are living with their children in the Red Cow IPAS centre in Clondalkin. The mothers, some of whom work in healthcare, said they recently had to give up their jobs in the local area as they were told they will have to leave on Friday. However, they do not know where they are going to go. These women said they received letters on Thursday which were dated June 30th and noted they were previously instructed 'to vacate your accommodation centre' on July 4th. 'IPAS has now commenced this process in date order based on length of time with status. If you still require an offer of alternative temporary emergency accommodation, and have not yet received your letter, we will be in contact with yot in the coming weeks,' the letter states. The families have been advised to contact the homeless charities Depaul or the Peter McVerry Trust 'who can assist with sourcing accommodation in the community'. One woman facing relocation from the Red Cow said: 'We are so stressed. We've not been sleeping, all of us, even the kids.' She noted their children were very upset to tell their school friends they were leaving and might not see them again. One of the mothers has a serious health condition and is very worried she will be moved to a rural area where she cannot access the healthcare she needs. 'I want to know where they are going to take me because I need to find out whether they are hospitals there,' she said. Inchicore For All, a group of local residents who are supporting the families based in both IPAS centres, has written to Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan asking for the relocations to be postponed. The Department of Justice confirmed in a statement that a number of families will be moved from certain centres on Friday, with more relocations happening on a phased basis throughout the summer. During the coming months, IPAS will be 'progressing moves for approximately 600 families with status to remain from IPAS accommodation centre across the country' – this is 2,042 people in total. A spokesperson said the department 'always acknowledges that these moves are difficult, especially given shortages of accommodation across society, but it is essential that IPAS maintains enough accommodation to meet the needs of new applicants (1,000 per month), who have a legal entitlement to IPAS accommodation, do not have immediate access to the labour market, and do not have access to standard housing benefits or standard social welfare entitlements'. The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found that more than 20 per cent of people living in seven direct provision centres in various locations across Ireland could not move out despite having permission to stay in Ireland due to a shortage of housing.
RTÉ News
03-07-2025
- RTÉ News
600 families being moved from IPAS centres under transfer procedure
The Department of Justice has confirmed that 600 families with status to remain in Ireland will be moved from IPAS accommodation centres across the country in the coming months. NGOs working with those who have received notice to leave their accommodation - 2,042 people in total - have requested that the IPAS exits be stalled. There is concern for families who are being removed from their communities and into emergency accommodation, in some cases hundreds of kilometres away. The Department of Justice has said families, who have had their status to remain for more than 12 months, were informed about the planned relocation one year ago and were sent a follow-up letter in March. It has confirmed that the first moves will take place tomorrow and will continue on a phased basis throughout the summer. The transfer procedure began under the previous Government when the Department of Children was responsible for the accommodation of international protection applicants. In the past 18 months, over 7,000 people with status have left IPAS accommodation, as the responsibility of which has shifted to the Department of Justice. A spokesperson for the department said that everyone who had been notified would be moved, except for "very rare circumstances" such as medical reasons. RTÉ News spoke to two women, Suzanne and Mary, who received letters to leave IPAS (Direct Provision) this time last year, to track their journeys. They were both offered transfers to emergency accommodation. Suzanne felt her youngest boy, who has additional needs, would not cope with such a setting, so she moved the children from where they grew up in the west of Ireland to her friend's house in Co Louth. This enabled the two women to share the load of minding children between them. While Suzanne's youngest child is happy and has the support he needs in school, it has proven more difficult for her teenagers to settle. They miss the west. Their arrival in Louth also involved upheaval, which saw Suzanne moving from friend's house to friend's house around Co Dublin seeking work, while the children attended their new school in Louth. Suzanne managed to get a job in a hospital and a house to rent - the conditions around which she describes as "sketchy" - because she has no lease and the landlord is not accepting HAP at this point. Her wages are spent on rent and bills, however, she still stands by the decision of not moving to emergency accommodation in an effort to safeguard her youngest child. Mary took a different path. She agreed to transfer to emergency accommodation because she had a two-week-old child at the time and needed to act swiftly. "There was no fridge, no kettle, no nothing. It was very difficult for me as a lactating mum. I had to fight to get them forcefully, because you can't live like that," she said. A year on, she is on the hunt for a property to rent but has had no luck. "I go for viewings, I send emails, I send references, I have done everything that is required of me as a person or a mum and I'm equally working as well. I'm trying all I can but there's no houses," she added. Speaking about the latest tranche of letters that have been delivered to people in IPAS, she says: "This thing of them giving eviction notices and putting them in hotels, it does not make sense to me." There has been growing disquiet from many quarters regarding the system of exiting people from Direct Provision - that it is compounding the homeless crisis. Between May 2023 and May 2025, there was an increase of approximately 1,230 in the number of Non‑EEA adults in emergency accommodation, equating to just over 68%. The Department of Housing has confirmed that the growth in the number of households being granted international protection or other forms of permission to remain in the State, has resulted in local authorities seeing increasing presentations from households who have recently left Direct Provision accommodation. Considering that the number of people seeking international protection in Ireland has reduced by 40% this year compared to last year, why has the Department of Justice continued to pursue the policy? The department acknowledged that while numbers arriving had reduced compared to 2024, it stated that there were "still on average 1,000 people applying for international protection every month", who are entitled to be offered reception conditions, including accommodation. "Of our nearly 33,000 residents, approximately 5,300 people have completed their application process and have received a positive decision. This means they have a legal status that allows them to remain in Ireland, and to work. "It also means that they are no longer entitled to IPAS accommodation. However, they are now able to access the full range of housing support available to all Irish residents. These housing supports are not available to people who are still going through the international protection application process," it stated. Some of the families who have been told that they have to leave by tomorrow and have accepted a transfer to emergency accommodation remain unaware where they will end up, according to the Irish Refugee Council. In a statement, it said: "We are particularly concerned that families who do not accept a transfer will be pushed into already overstretched homeless services and are at high risk of rough sleeping during this transition." The Irish Refugee Council and Action Aid have consistently raised concerns about transferring people away from the communities where they have built lives including work, school, and support. In a statement, the IRC said the rise in homeless presentations among people leaving Direct Provision was as a direct result of Government policy, not the fault of those affected. At a recent Oireachtas committee on housing, Director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive Mary Hayes also expressed concern about the approach. "We are concerned about institutional discharge from one institution into another. That does not seem to be well-thought through or a planned approach to homelessness. That is particularly so with IPAS which is driving about a quarter of the presentations of single homelessness," she said. Both the Departments of Justice and Housing have pointed to arrangements that were put in place by the last Government, to help households exit IPAS to alternative accommodation through a number of NGOs that have been contracted specifically to provide support. However, it is clear from those RTÉ News has spoken to in the past year, that this is not working on the ground. Most people say they are being sent links to properties on which they are already checking themselves. Like anyone in the State seeking to rent a house right now, those who have status to remain are up against thousands of other potential renters and they are aware that a foreign surname can create extra hurdles. The Department of Housing has said that where a household is eligible for social housing support, they are supported to apply for social housing, in which case they are added to the social housing list in the relevant local authority. Eligible households can also access Homeless HAP which supports households to secure a tenancy in the private rental market. However, Mary says that even with HAP, the houses in the west of Ireland are out of her league and simply unaffordable. "I'm working, I'm paying taxes, I'm driving my child over an hour to school, I'm doing what I exhausting," she says. Despite the difficulties people face, the Department of Justice is remaining firm on the matter. "IPAS gives people significant notice, and is progressing this during Summer months in order to allow families time to plan and to avoid moving children during the school year. The first moves will take place from 4 July and they will continue on a phased basis throughout the summer," it said. The issue of accommodating them will likely then become an issue for homeless services and local authorities nationwide.
Irish Times
27-06-2025
- Irish Times
People with right to remain in Ireland stuck in direct provision centres due to lack of housing, Hiqa finds
More than 20 per cent of people living in seven direct provision centres could not move out despite having permission to stay in Ireland due to a shortage of housing , according to reports from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa). The reports covered International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres in counties Cork, Kerry, Louth, Galway and Waterford. In addition to noting how many residents are in each centre, they record how many have been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection allowing them to move out and to look for their own housing. In two centres – Birchwood House in Co Waterford and Millstreet Accommodation Centre in Co Cork – 42 per cent of residents were stuck there, having been granted international protection but unable to leave. READ MORE Regarding Birchwood House, Hiqa said: 'While the primary function of the centre was to provide accommodation to people seeking international protection, the inspectors found that 54 (42 per cent) of the residents had received refugee, subsidiary protection or leave to remain status. 'Due to the lack of alternative accommodation, they were unable to avail of more appropriate accommodation arrangements in the community.' In Millstreet, where 109 of the 260 residents had refugee status or another right to remain, the report said 42 per cent of residents 'had received notice to seek private accommodation' outside of the centre. 'Due to the lack of alternative accommodation available this was not always possible.' At Carroll Village IPAS centre in Co Louth, 26 of the 88 residents (29.5 per cent) had the right to remain at the time of the inspection, March 19th and 20th last, but could not find housing. [ One in four single people seeking emergency accommodation are from direct provision, say homeless agencies Opens in new window ] At Park Lodge in Co Kerry, nine of the 51 residents (17 per cent) had permission to remain. This fell to 4.4 per cent at Linden House, Co Kerry, 4.7 per cent at Great Western House in Co Galway and 5.4 per cent at Ashbourne House in Glounthaune, Co Cork. The Department of Justice is seeking to source additional IPAS accommodation due to continued pressure for beds in the system. The most recent data from the department, published on June 20th, shows there were 2,577 male adult asylum seekers 'awaiting offers of accommodation'. Figures released last week show the department has received 131 offers from property owners of buildings to be used as IPAS centres. These were being 'worked through and assessed', meaning it was not possible to state how many of the 131 had been offered for sale rather than lease, a department spokeswoman said. The seven Hiqa reports published on Friday showed high levels of compliance with national standards. However, two centres had areas of noncompliance. At Park Lodge in Co Kerry, where 51 single women are living, inspectors who visited on February 18th and 19th noted that 'residents spoke positively' about the centre. However, it said 'improvements were required ... related to strengthening safeguarding practices', as well as the recruitment of a reception officer, development of supporting guidance documents for the reception officer, and the need for enhanced governance to ensure adequate oversight, accountability and monitoring. Carroll Village in Co Louth, home to 88 people in families, was inspected on March 19th and 20th. 'The inspectors were told by residents that they felt safe living in the centre. Life ... felt 'normal' [and] some residents said they 'don't feel different here'.' However, the report said: 'The overall governance and oversight systems in place were not fully effective.' It added: 'Systems to review the implementation of, and compliance with relevant standards, legislation and policies were not fully effective' and, 'the service provider had not ensured that all of the required notifications were submitted to Hiqa in line with the requirements.'
