C&AG: Properties used by IPAS lacked proper documentation

Due diligence documentation on 20 sample properties used by the International Protection Accommodation Service was 'significantly incomplete'

The Department of Justice.  Insurance certificates were only available for 40% of the properties, and appropriate fire certificates clearly covering the proposed properties were only available for 45%.

Due diligence documentation provided for 20 sample properties used by the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) was “significantly incomplete”, staff from the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) discovered.

Insurance certificates were only available for 40% of the properties, and appropriate fire certificates clearly covering the proposed properties were only available for 45%.

None of the fire certificates examined identified the proposed occupancy level for the properties used by IPAS, which last year made payments of about €978m to commercial providers for emergency accommodation and related services.

Evidence of ownership of the property/copy of lease agreement was only provided for one (5%) of the properties, and evidence of full planning permission to use the property for asylum seeker accommodation, or confirmation of exempted development, was available for only 20% of the properties.

Pre-contract inspections of the properties had been carried out for only two of the properties.

The report noted: “The rapid increase in the number of IP applicants since 2022 has created significant pressure on the State’s capacity to respond with timely decisions on applications and to provide accommodation and other supports for IP applicants.

Reduced pressure to house Ukrainians

“However, reduced pressure on the State to provide accommodation for Ukrainians in 2024 and 2025 has allowed the IPAS to take steps to rationalise the network of accommodation it uses and to develop its controls over the related expenditure.”

The IPAS has since taken steps to improve the documentation held for the sample properties reviewed, it said.

The Department of Justice accounting officer said: “Complete due diligence documentation checklists have been introduced and are reflected in an overall ‘offers of accommodation’ spreadsheet to ensure that all documentation has been received and recorded.

“Access to the Companies Registration Office database has been arranged to support the verification of data.

“The Department now uses Tailte Éireann’s mapping service to assist with verification of mapping and folio data. 

"A verification checklist has been developed to show that checks have been carried out as recommended.”