Over 1,200 asylum seekers will have to leave their hotel accommodation next month
Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration Roderic O'Gorman is expected to tell colleagues that the estimated numbers expected to arrive here in the coming weeks will result in an accommodation shortage. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
Over 1,200 asylum seekers will have to leave hotels by mid-April, leaving the State facing a significant shortfall in accommodation.
Papers submitted for the Cabinet Committee on Ukraine today will state that priority needs to be given to accommodate women and children.
A total of 1,228 beds will be lost from the system due to hotels deciding not to renew contracts.
This, combined with the estimated numbers expected to arrive here in the coming weeks, will result in a shortage, Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman is expected to tell colleagues.
Currently, there are 432 refugees who have not been offered State accommodation, with some believed to be sleeping on the streets.
Around 85 Ukrainians and 29 International Protection applicants are arriving in Ireland every day.
The also understands the State is facing up to 87 legal challenges by those seeking asylum here who were not provided with accommodation.
The transit hub at Citywest also remains closed to new arrivals, as it is currently “oversubscribed.”
The papers also state how it has become challenging for contractors at Columb Barracks in Westmeath — where “pod-style” accommodation is to be constructed for around 400 arrivals — because of ongoing and sustained verbal abuse of workers and residents.
In recent days, a bus carrying asylum seekers was blocked from entering the site.
Education Minister Norma Foley is also expected to warn colleagues that there are now significant capacity pressures on schools around the country, and preparations will need to be put in place ahead of the next academic year.
The meeting will be told that 1,195-bed spaces are under construction or awaiting the arrival of contractors. However, there are no timelines for the delivery of these beds.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will also provide an update on the efforts to locate more accommodation across the country.
A considerable number of properties have been identified under a refurbishment scheme, and the meeting will be told that 1,195-bed spaces are under construction or awaiting the arrival of contractors. However, there are no timelines for the delivery of these beds.
Meanwhile, 679 properties have been allocated since November under a scheme run through local authorities that will take offers of houses, apartments, or holiday homes for temporary accommodation. A total of 2,229 Ukrainians have been housed under this scheme.
It is also understood that Fianna Fáil TDs last night raised concerns at its parliamentary party meeting about arranging accommodation for International Protection applicants, and hit out at the Department of Integration for the delay of payments to suppliers.
