Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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122. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if there are any further plans to audit emergency accommodation beds to identify vacancy after the audit carried out in mid-March of this year. [25749/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Deputy will be aware that there is an acute scarcity of accommodation in the State for international protection applicants – particularly, for single males.

Currently, there are over 31,000 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole (of whom 7,680 are children) compared with approximately 8,700 people at the end of February 2022.

The Department engages intensively and proactively on a continuing basis with providers of contracted accommodation on any available spaces at locations as well as carrying out a programme of in person inspections of centres which includes checks to ensure bed usage is maximised.