Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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761. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if additional resources have been directed to the IPAS finance section to address the numerous accommodation providers which are purporting to have not been paid for some time for the services provided (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54730/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Overseeing provision of accommodation to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) who are fleeing the war in Ukraine remains immensely challenging. My Department has contracted in excess of 34,000 beds to accommodate BOTPs in more than 550 settings including hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, hostels, commercial self-catering accommodation and certain other repurposed settings.

I can confirm to the Deputy that I have assigned additional staffing resources to deal with the extraordinary volume of payments required. I can also advise the Deputy that payments in respect of BOTP accommodation are now administratively separate from payments for accommodation for applicants for International Protection payments made through IPAS.