Asylum-seekers moved from Clare tents after alternative accommodation sourced  

The Knockalisheen direct provision centre where 80 asylum-seekers were accommodated in tents.

Alternative accommodation has been found at four different locations for 80 asylum-seekers who were being housed in tents at a direct provision centre in Co Clare.

Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman said many of the asylum-seekers are now being housed at a direct provision centre in Knockalisheen in Co Clare with a “small number of people” being moved in to permanent accommodation.

The minister said no asylum-seekers are in tents at present countrywide, and every effort was being made to ensure this solution would not be used again. He stressed that only about 600 of the 63,000 being accommodated across Ireland were put in tents.

“This means that less than 1% of our total accommodation has been through tents. But still, that’s not an approach I want to be taking," he told RTÉ radio.

We use tents because of the tightness of accommodation at that time and we’ve been working over the last number of weeks to move away from the use of tented accommodation and ensure that everybody can be accommodated indoors.

"All our use of tented accommodation has ceased. We had two other centres that we were using for international protection in Athlone and Kerry. We were able to close those in the last couple of weeks." 

Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman said this was 'the biggest humanitarian challenge our country has ever faced'. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

He said while they had worked extremely hard to end the situation where people had to stay in tents, "it is indicative of the real pressures that the system is under". 

Mr O’Gorman said this was “the biggest humanitarian challenge our country has ever faced."

"It’s put a challenge on the system, and we continue to look to make sure we can provide shelter and safety. We won’t be using those tents again.

"We have been bringing on further additional accommodation through a range of mechanisms. Every day teams within my department are looking at ways to increase the amount of accommodation we have available to us. We have been opening new accommodation both for Ukrainians and international protection applicants across the country. "

He said the Government has been “upfront” with authorities in Ukraine on how “tight” the accommodation situation is in this country, "that we are not always in a position to provide people with accommodation on the day they arrive".

Meanwhile, the Church of Ireland has rowed in behind the Government’s new appeal for offers of unoccupied properties to provide temporary homes for people from Ukraine who are seeking shelter.

Archbishop Michael Jackson described the scheme now being rolled out as “an expression of practical generosity in a deeply distressing human situation of need, which calls for a generous response”.

A tax–free payment of €800 per month is available for properties offered under the scheme, if provided for a period of six months.

Archbishop Jackson, who chairs the Church of Ireland’s Church and Society Commission, said: “As winter grows deeper, darker and longer, we in Ireland find that the exodus of people from war–torn Ukraine continues unabated. Like ourselves, they need shelter, welcome and a home in the most practical of ways possible.” 

He encouraged anyone who can participate in the Government’s scheme to do so “and to respond as speedily as possible.”