Government agrees new comprehensive accommodation strategy for International Protection applicants

• Reforms will see a move away from reliance on private providers, delivering 14,000 State-owned beds by 2028.
• A multi-strand approach to tackle current accommodation shortage, while reforming system in the longer term.
• The strategy remains focused on maintaining the guiding principles of the White Paper to end Direct Provision and Support a new International Protection Support Service.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman has today (27th March 2024) announced a new Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for International Protection applicants.

The strategy seeks to address the current accommodation shortfall, while reforming the system over the longer term to ensure the State will always be able to meet its international commitments.

The reforms will see a move away from full reliance on private providers and towards a core of State-owned accommodation, delivering 14,000 State-owned beds by 2028 - quadruple the previous commitment under the White Paper. This will be supplemented, as required, by high standard commercial providers. It is the intention of this new strategy to end the use of unsuitable accommodation options currently relied upon, such as the sole hotel remaining in a given town.

Accommodation in the new strategy will be delivered through the following multi-strand approach:

• Use of State land for prefabricated and
• modular units
• Conversation of commercial buildings
• Targeted purchase of medium and larger turnkey properties
• Design and build of new Reception and Integration Centres
• Upgrading of IPAS centres.

A number of State-owned sites have been identified, with assessments underway for use. The Department intends to bring the first sites into use within months. In addition, an Expression of Interest for possible purchases of accommodation will issue in the coming weeks.

While delivering State-owned assets through purchase, build and the use of State land, the delivery by commercial providers will supplement State-owned beds, and seek to raise the overall standard of accommodation within the system.

In addition, the phased and planned approach to accommodation will allow for enhanced community engagement to ensure planning for the provision of essential public services and to assist with the welcome and integration of new arrivals.

Launching the strategy, Minister O'Gorman said:

"The Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy agreed today by Government will address the immediate accommodation crisis in International Protection, and provide a pathway, over the next five years, to deliver a fair, efficient, and sustainable model of accommodating International Protection applicants.

"The strategy will allow us to develop a system where the State holds the reigns on accommodation, its location, and its standards. By ending the reliance on private providers, and increasing the proportion of State-owned accommodation, we can bring certainty and stability into the system."

Ends/

Notes to Editors

The Programme for Government made a commitment to replace the current system of accommodation and supports for International Protection (IP) applicants. As part of this process, the Government approved White Paper to End Direct Provision and Establish a new International Protection Support Service in February 2021. The White Paper set out a new policy for the accommodation of IP applicants and ensures they are assisted to integrate into Ireland from day one, with health, housing, education, and employment supports at the core of the new system.

Since the publication of the White Paper there has been an exponential growth in applications for International Protection with over 30,000 new arrivals since January 2022. This increase has placed significant pressure on the Department's capacity to source viable accommodation for new arrivals in 2023.

In this context there is a recognition that the underlying assumptions on which the White Paper was based needed to be re-examined as it was originally based on 3,500 new arrivals each year. In this regard a review of the implementation approach for the White Paper was initiated which has included inputs from the White Paper Programme Board and the External Advisory Group.

The review has resulted in the development a new Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for IP applicants. The strategy seeks to address the current accommodation shortfall, while reforming the system over the longer term to ensure the State will always be able to meet its international commitments.

By adopting the mixed-accommodation plan, the Government would begin to gradually move away from a reactive, crisis response, ultimately permitting the State to:

• Regain long-term certainty over accommodation availability by creating a core, static State-owned asset and incur very significant savings over current expenditure allocated to commercial providers.

• Adjust its commercial accommodation stock as required to meet the demands of incoming arrival rates and potential changes in length of stay of applicants within the system.

• Gain far greater degree of control over the geographic distribution, allocation and dispersal of applicants.

• End reliance on opening new properties in unsuitable locations and/or properties entailing significant adverse impact in local communities (i.e. use of the sole hotel in a given town)

• Gain much greater lead-in time to the opening of new centres, allowing for enhanced and effective local communication, and development of integration.

• Plan more effectively for delivery of increased public services, where possible.

• Ensure delivery of standards uniformly and end reliance on substandard accommodation.

• Ensure compliance with EU and International legal obligations, and protection from adverse legal decisions.

The multi-strand approach focuses on both increasing State owned permanent capacity, and the upgrading of additional contingency accommodation, developed to specific national standards, to build an effective system to meet the new realities of increasing need while enabling the State to discharge its duty to meet the material reception conditions of IP Applicants, according to the guiding principles of the White Paper.

In order to deal with the demand led nature of the system, the commissioning of emergency commercial accommodation will continue to be a feature in the short to medium term. This accommodation will be contracted on shorter-term basis and if application numbers drop, can be decommissioned as contracts expire. It is planned that as new State owned and permanent commercial accommodation comes on stream the use of this emergency accommodation will reduce.

Once sufficient State owned accommodation has been delivered over the coming years, and emergency accommodation reduced substantially, the Government may, at that point, seek to reduce further the proportion of remaining permanent accommodation delivered by commercial providers and move to a fully or predominately State owned system.

Accommodation offering breakdown by 2028