What do State spending figures on refugee and asylum accommodation tell us?

The State spent more than €401 million on accommodation for International Protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees in the first three months of this year.
That's according to new figures released by the former Department of Integration detailing its spending for the first quarter of 2025.
It's an eye-watering amount of money but it is down on last year's quarterly spends on such accommodation, which ranged from €424m to €490m.
Paying for private sector accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers made up 97% of the Department's purchase order spends of €20,000 or more detailed in the report.
While hundreds of providers are in receipt of Government payments, 91 were paid more than €1m in the first quarter of this year, and together the top five brought in €52.5m.
The Government has said it wants to move away from its reliance on the private and commercial sector when it comes to accommodating refugees and asylum seekers.
To this end, the Minister for Justice announced this week that the Cabinet had signed off on his plan to buy Citywest, a campus that has been central to its International Protection and Ukrainian refugee accommodation provision over the last number of years.
Jim O'Callaghan announced that the State would buy the hotel and convention centre for the sum of €148.2m, describing it as "value for money".
Cape Wrath Hotel Unlimited operates Citywest and over the last couple of years it was the State's top earner when it came to these accommodation contracts.
Last year it secured €70.86m in accommodation payments from the State, and it was at the top of the table once more in the first quarter of this year, getting paid €18.7m - almost double what the next best paid accommodation provider received.
Mr O'Callaghan said that "purchasing Citywest makes prudent financial sense for the State compared to costs of leasing the site" however it appears that there will still be some invoices forthcoming even after the sale.
According to the Department of Justice there will be a "a transition plan with the current service provider for a period of 12 months to ensure there is no disruption to the accommodation services at the site."
A statement added that "the service provider will continue to oversee the management and provision of services including catering, cleaning, maintenance and security, resident check-in, operational support, finance and other services."
The Department of Integration's quarterly purchase order report sheds some light on the current spend on additional Citywest expenses paid in January, February and March this year, including over €709,000 on security and €580,000 on meals.
In total, in the first quarter of this year the State spent over €267m on accommodation and related costs for International Protection applicants and almost €133m for Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.
Separately the Department also spent almost €1.7m on modular accommodation for International Protection applicants in the first quarter of 2025.
These figures are all inclusive of VAT.
After Citywest operator Cape Wrath Hotel Unlimited, Mosney Holidays PLC, was the next best paid accommodation provider in the first three months of 2025.
It was paid €9.7m for providing international protection accommodation at the former holiday resort in Co Meath.
The third highest paid provider was Holiday Inn Dublin Airport, which was paid €8.5m.
Over January, February and March, the report shows Travelodge Hotels, operated by Smorgs ROI Management Limited, were paid over €8m.
However, in this period there were also payments amounting to €3.6m made directly to Tifco Ltd which runs Travelodge Hotels among others, and of almost €1.85m made to Pumkinspice Ltd, which also operates a Travelodge Hotel in Dublin City Centre.
Rounding out the top five earners in the first quarter of 2025, East Coast Catering, which owns a number of hotels, was paid almost €7.5m.
Last year saw a record number of people seeking Protection in Ireland, 18,561.
However fewer asylum seekers are doing so this year.
Last year 9,199 people had sought asylum in Ireland by 31 May, compared to 5,037 in the same period this year.
But there's no denying that there a real demand for accommodation for asylum seekers.
As of the 4 May this year there were 32,934 people, including 9,442 children, living in International Protection accommodation.
For more than two years now most male asylum seekers who seek international protection in Ireland are not offered accommodation on arrival, with the Government citing an ongoing accommodation shortage.
As of Monday, the Department of Justice said there were 2,987 asylum seekers awaiting an offer of accommodation by the State.
Meanwhile, the number of Ukrainian refugees in State provided accommodation is down significantly from its peak of almost 60,000 at the end of 2023.
Since then, the State has limited free accommodation provision for new arrivals to three months and has cut supports for those in hotel style accommodation.
As of 1 June, there were 23,599 Ukrainian refugees in State provided accommodation.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

RTÉ News​

3 hours ago

• RTÉ News​

High cost of IP housing 'not sustainable'

The Minister of State for Migration has acknowledged the high costs of providing accommodation for International Protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees, which he said was "neither sustainable nor acceptable in the long term". The State spent more than €401m on accommodation for International Protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees in the first three months of the year. That is according to new figures released by the former Department of Integration detailing its spending for the first quarter of 2025. In a statement, Minister Colm Brophy said the State had engaged in a series of actions to reduce these costs. He said this includes: "The purchase of State-owned facilities which will reduce costs and save the State 100s of millions in a relatively short period of time. "The renegotiation downwards of existing contracts with IPAS and Ukrainian accommodation providers. "The introduction of legislation this autumn will drastically shorten the length of time people stay in the system. This will reduce the overall costs of accommodation in the years ahead." The €401m figure is down on last year's quarterly spends on such accommodation, which ranged from €424m to €490m. Paying for private sector accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers made up 97% of the department's purchase order spends of €20,000 or more detailed in the Department report. While hundreds of providers are in receipt of Government payments, 91 were paid more than €1m in the first quarter of the year, and together the top five brought in €52.5m. Commenting on the figures, Nick Henderson, the CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, said it had always been concerned about money going straight to private providers. He said the Government's purchase of Citywest could be a step in the right direction and was likely to be better value for money for the taxpayer. The Citywest campus has been central to the Government's International Protection and Ukrainian refugee accommodation provision over the last number of years. However, Mr Henderson said this did not necessarily mean it would be a better-run facility. He said the IRC also had concerns that the border procedure, under the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, could be based in the future at Citywest. The IRC would also like to see an expansion of the remit of HIQA, which only has inspection powers for longer-term accommodation, expanded to include emergency accommodation.

Extra.ie​

6 hours ago

• Extra.ie​

Telegram founder to leave €20b fortune to '106' children

The billionaire founder of messaging app Telegram is set to leave his fortune to his 106 children that he has fathered. Tech tycoon Pavel Durov has allegedly fathered more than 106 children — six that he conceived naturally with three different women — and the further 100 that he's the biological father of after donating sperm en masse to couples across 12 different countries. Mr Durov, who's worth almost €20billion, recently spoke about how he felt there was no difference between the children he conceived naturally and the children who were born as part of his sperm donations — with him saying that he will leave his entire fortune to each child in 30 years. The billionaire founder of messaging app Telegram is set to leave his fortune to his 106 children that he has fathered. Pic:This means that each of his 106 children will receive approximately €188,000,000 each in the next three decades. 'They are all my children and will all have the same rights,' Mr Durov told Le Point magazine in France. 'I don't want them to tear each other apart after my death.' However, Mr Durov's children will live 'normal' lives prior to receiving the huge windfall in the next few decades, with him adding: 'I want them to live like normal people, to build their lives on their own, to learn to trust themselves, to be able to create – not to be dependent on a bank account.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pavel Durov (@durov) Mr Durov revealed that he fathered a number of children via sperm donation when a Russian woman who is based in Switzerland said that he was the father of her three children. He would later confirm that he has over 100 children, including those three children, and another three which were conceived naturally, as well as the aforementioned mass sperm donation. Mr Durov has been called the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia, after he founded social media platform VK, the Russian version of Facebook, when he was 21. He was essentially forced to give up the company in 2014 after he wouldn't give up data surrounding Ukrainian protestors, and he moved abroad. He then founded secure messaging app Telegram, which has also seen its share of controversy over the years — including the alleged trading of illegal pornography and drugs. Mr Durov, often called Russia's answer to Mark Zuckerberg, said he would give his estimated €20billion fortune to his army of children. Pic: Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images Mr Durov is currently under judicial supervision in France in connection with his app, after he was placed under investigation for alleged organised crime on the app in France. He is a dual citizen of France and the UAE, and currently resides in Dubai.

Irish Examiner

6 hours ago

• Irish Examiner

Russian drones target two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person

Russian drones have slammed into two Ukrainian cities, killing at least one person in nighttime attacks, authorities said. The assault targeted the southern port city of Odesa and the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, hitting apartment blocks, officials said on Friday. The barrage of more than 20 drones injured almost two dozen civilians, including girls aged 17 and 12, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The drones targeted multi-storey apartment buildings in Odesa (Michael Shtekel/AP) The strikes came as a Kremlin official said he expected an announcement next week on dates for a fresh round of direct peace talks. 'Russia continues its tactics of targeted terror against our people,' Mr Zelensky said on messaging app Telegram, urging the US and the European Union to increase economic pressure on Moscow. Russia has shown no sign of relenting in its attacks, more than three years after it invaded its neighbour. It is pressing a summer offensive on parts of the 620-mile front line and has kept up long-range strikes that have hit civilian areas. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the date for the next round peace talks is expected to be agreed next week. Kyiv officials have not recently spoken about resuming talks with Russia, last held when delegations met in Istanbul on June 2, though Ukraine continues to offer a ceasefire and support US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting. Firefighters in Odesa (Michael Shtekel/AP) The two rounds of brief talks yielded only agreements on the exchange of prisoners and wounded soldiers. A fire caused by Russia's nighttime strike on Odesa engulfed a four-storey residential building, which partly collapsed and injured three emergency workers. A separate fire spread across the upper floors of a 23-storey high-rise, leading to the evacuation of around 600 residents. In Kharkiv, at least eight drones hit civilian infrastructure, injuring four people including two children, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service. Russia launched 80 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine's air force said, claiming that air defences shot down or jammed 70 of them.