Over 5,600 refugees with right-to-remain still in direct provision 

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin: 'The fact that there's 5,600 who can't leave the Direct Provision system shows that this plan for Ukrainians can't work.'

Over 5,600 asylum seekers have been given the right to remain in Ireland but remain in the Direct Provision system as they are unable to find alternative accommodation.

Figures given to Sinn Féin's Eoin O Broin by Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman show that at the end of August, the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) was accommodating 5,650 people with leave-to-remain status, 1,580 of them children.

When a person is first granted status by the Department of Justice, IPAS writes individually to them and advises them of the supports available to them from Peter McVerry Trust and DePaul, and that they must now "actively look to progress from IPAS accommodation into the community". However, Mr O Broin says this means those in the IPAS system are effectively homeless, but not counted.

Figures released by Mr O'Gorman last month also show that those figures include 431 units of single parents with one child;  427 couples with no children; and 406 units of couples with a child.

Mr O Broin said the numbers show a plan to limit the state accommodation offering to Ukrainian refugees is "unworkable".

"It was only 2018 when this number was in the hundreds," Mr O Broin told the Irish Examiner.

"The fact that there's 5,600 who can't leave the Direct Provision system shows that this plan for Ukrainians can't work. This seems to be more about disincentivizing people from coming. And that is disingenuous and dishonest from this government.

"At the start of the war in Ukraine, the Government was saying we could have 200,000 refugees by the end of last year, but we've only half of that. But the Government hasn't put its shoulder to wheel and left (Mr O'Gorman) on his own. Rather than sending mixed signals, they should put in place a plan and get back to basics.

"There is already a two-tier system in place here — people coming from other wars get a lot less than people coming from Ukraine. So I'm scratching my head wondering why the Government has handled this so badly. There still isn't the 700 modular units promised. This government doesn't have a plan to house people leaving the system as is, let alone those Ukrainians."

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Mr O Broin said single people within the Direct Provision system in his constituency have been written to recently threatening them with relocation to other counties. This issue was raised with Mr O'Gorman by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny during the summer.

Mr O'Gorman said at the time that homeless organisations have been contracted by the Department to provide "onsite support to those no longer eligible for IPAS accommodation to aid their integration and progress into the community". Since January 2022, over 1,600 people with status have moved on from IPAS accommodation, he said.

Those with status granted the greatest length of time, who have not moved on, are offered a transfer to alternative emergency accommodation so that those currently still in the International Protection process can be accommodated in IPAS Centres where they can receive supports. He said those people could have had their leave to remain for 18 months or three years if in a family.