Insect infestations, intimidation, and aggression among 100 complaints about Ipas centres

A resident at the State-owned Ipas centre at Citywest in Dublin said: 'This environment poses an immediate threat to my physical safety and my mental wellbeing.'

A resident at the country’s biggest asylum-seeker accommodation centre pleaded to be transferred because of “visible, open drug activity” and concerns for their personal safety.

The person said conditions at the State-owned centre at Citywest in Dublin had severely deteriorated and the facility was “heavily neglected” with “critical health, hygiene, and safety violations.” 

In an urgent request, the resident appealed to the International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas) for a transfer elsewhere.

Their complaint said: “This environment poses an immediate threat to my physical safety and my mental well-being.” 

The resident was told that transfers could only be considered in cases involving a medical priority or otherwise exceptional circumstances.

The complaint was one of more than 100 made directly to the Department of Justice this year by people living in Ipas centres.

Other issues raised included infestations of cockroaches and bedbugs, intimidation by staff, aggressive residents, and people getting attacked.

In another case at Citywest, a parent raised an “urgent child welfare” concern, saying their children were going hungry outside meal times.

The person said they had no way to prepare food for their kids and begged for help finding somewhere they could cook “proper meals".

The complaint said: “That would make a huge difference to their health and wellbeing.” 

For the more than 100 complaints made in the first half of this year, the Department of Justice refused to provide the location of the centre.

Among the issues logged were a “complaint re: being physically assaulted by [a] room-mate” and a “complaint re: abuse from staff”. 

There were multiple claims of being attacked, others about the safety of centres and one about “threatening behaviour” by staff.

Another said they were the victim of an assault by a centre manager while one said they were being intimidated by centre personnel.

Homophobic discrimination from other residents

There was also a complaint about damage to property by staff and one about homophobic discrimination from other residents.

Asked about the records, a department spokesperson said they could not comment on individual cases, but that Ipas is always available to deal with any complaints.

They said: “Where a complaint is significant in nature, or a resident is not comfortable raising a complaint with a centre manager, they may make the complaint directly, or through a representative authorised to act on their behalf, to the Ipas Customer Service Team.

“In general, all people applying for international protection must adhere to the requirements of the international protection process and accommodation regulations.

“The Ipas House Rules clearly state that residents must not consume or store alcohol or illegal drugs in accommodation centres.” 

The spokesperson added that Ipas accommodation centres are contractually obligated to meet the dietary needs of all residents and that transfers can only be considered in medical priority or exceptional cases.