Number of asylum seekers awaiting offer of accommodation plummets in a year

Correspondence from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration said: 'Most people are not rough sleeping, but where an applicant is found to be rough sleeping, IPAS makes an offer of accommodation.' File picture

The number of asylum seekers awaiting an offer of accommodation has plunged in just over a year.

Correspondence from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee says that since March 2025, the numbers of people waiting for an offer of accommodation has dropped from over 3,500 to approximately 755, as the IPAS system "makes retrospective offers when accommodation is available".

The letter from department secretary general Doncha O’Sullivan says single male applicants are most affected, "as accommodation is prioritised for women, children and people with special reception needs".

It says that people who are not offered accommodation are given a weekly allowance of €113.80 per week, an increase of €75 from the standard weekly allowance for international protection applicants.

"Most people are not rough sleeping, but where an applicant is found to be rough sleeping, IPAS makes an offer of accommodation. These people are identified through outreach that is organised seven days a week."

The letter says that IPAS provides housing charity Tiglin with a budget of €455,000 specifically for their outreach work and that a further budget of €512,383 is provided for the day services Tiglin provides to people seeking international protection who are unaccommodated.

"Day services are attended by people seeking international protection who are unaccommodated and may or may not be rough sleeping. These costs are incurred to offset the impact on people not being accommodated rather than as an alternative to provision of accommodation itself."

The letter, dated May 20, says single male applicants for international protection have been particularly affected by shortages of accommodation since 2022. This accommodation type is in shortest supply, with only 247 contingency beds available for single men.

"The department continues to manage this very limited supply, ensuring that the contingency beds are kept available for daily arrivals, people with health or other vulnerabilities, and this is kept under continual active review to maximise best use of capacity in line with best practice."

While the number of people seeking asylum in Ireland has fallen since the heights of a few years ago, there were still an average of 270 people per week applying for international protection here last year.

At the end of March, this had fallen to 256 per week on average. As of May 3, Ipas was accommodating 33,000 people, including 9,900 children at over 300 accommodation centres.

• Paul Hosford is deputy political editor of the Irish Examiner