Govt pays hotels and guest houses almost €500k a week to accommodate 1,453 asylum seekers

The State has paid hotels and guest houses an average of over €460,000 per week to the end of September this year to house the soaring numbers of asylum seekers in emergency accommodation.

According to new figures provided by the Minister for Justice, Charlie Flanagan, the spend on emergency accommodation from January to the end of September totals €18m - or an average of €462,046 per week.