€1bn to assist asylum seekers

Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman said 'there is a continuing shortfall in accommodation' for asylum seekers.

The Government has announced €1bn in supplementary funding for the assistance of international asylum seekers in recognition of the “immense pressure” the system is currently under.

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman made the joint announcement in Dublin but insisted that the new funding had already been provided for within last year’s budget, which was delivered at a time when the Russia-Ukraine conflict had already been under way for several months.

Mr Donohoe said that the number of Ukrainian refugees has increased from 15,000 to roughly 70,000 over the past 17 months. 

At the same time, the number of people being accommodated within Ireland’s international protection system almost trebled to 23,200.

Mr O’Gorman said that “there is a continuing shortfall in accommodation”.

“That’s why we have to use contingency measures like tented accommodation,” he said, adding that “it’s likely that we will see tented accommodation as part of our accommodation offering going forward”.

Roughly 800 people are currently being accommodated in tents.

Roughly 800 people are currently being accommodated in tents. Picture: Sasko Lazarov

Mr O’Gorman said he wants “to have the minimum number of tents possible, I’d like that figure to be zero”.

“We saw what happened earlier this year where we weren’t able to provide accommodation for people at all. That is the absolute worst circumstance,” he said.

Mr Donohoe said that he could not currently comment as to whether or not Mr O’Gorman’s budget within the Department of Integration would need to be €1bn greater in the coming October budget to compensate for the supplementary funding being announced, saying that the relevant departmental allocations have yet to be agreed.

He said, however, that “it is the case that we’re going to need additional non-core funding for next year”, adding that a reserve has been “set in place for 2024” which will total “a number of billions of euro”.