Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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573. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he is taking to ensure that all individuals in the international protection system are provided with suitable accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22741/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Ireland is currently accommodating over 84,300 people between those fleeing the crisis in Ukraine and International Protection Applicants (IPAs). This compares with the State accommodating over 8,570 people at the end of February 2022. The figure of almost 85,000 people equates to a population the size of Galway City being accommodated by this Department in little over a year.

Access to suitable accommodation is severely constrained at present. The Department is availing of all offers of accommodation made to it, including the use of repurposed buildings and tented accommodation, to address the accommodation shortfall. These options are necessary in order to provide shelter to international protection arrivals, to meet basic needs and to prevent homelessness. However, even these options are failing to address the numbers of people arriving.

The Department has reached out to other Government Departments such as the Department of Education for school and third level institution facilities; the Department of Defence for unused barracks and buildings; the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media for sporting and arts facilities; the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Office of Public Works for buildings that can be used to accommodate people.

Some of the offers that have come through these requests have resulted in accommodation, both temporary and longer term. However, there are often significant fire certification and building control regulatory issues that must be addressed before these building can be occupied safely.

My officials are working tirelessly to procure more bed spaces in as far as it can. Since the beginning of 2023, more than 5,300 bed spaces have been brought into use by IPAS to accommodate both new arrivals and over 2,500 people who required to be re-accommodated from hotels where contracts ended in the first four months of this year.

While demand continues to outstrip supply, particularly for adult males, the Department has managed to ensure that all families and children have been accommodated. IPAS is working on projects to increase reception capacity for adult males and hopes to deliver significant capacity in the coming weeks to go some way to alleviating the shortages being experienced presently.