Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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1864.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide a full list of the number of beds available for accommodating both Ukrainian refugees and International Protection applicants, listing how many of them are occupied and how many are empty at the most recent date at which this information is available. [32637/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection

Up to 18 July 2024, there were 41,229 Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP) reported as availing of DCEDIY contracted accommodation nationally. The Department publishes regular statistical reports on the Accommodation of BOTPs. It is not considered appropriate to publish information relating to persons or the location of their place of residence. The reports present data by type of accommodation, age groups and by county. The reports can be accessed here: www.gov.ie/en/publication/9ac7b-accommodation-of-beneficiaries-of-temporary-protection-botps/

Due to continuing downward trends in BOTPs seeking accommodation from the State, coupled with increases in BOTPs leaving State provided accommodation to seek more independent living, vacancies continue to arise in the BOTP portfolio of commercial accommodation. These vacancies are notified by providers on a weekly basis and the numbers change daily in response to moves in and out of accommodation.

Providers are currently reporting approximately 4,800 current vacancies across the entire BOTP portfolio. However, it is important to note that a significant proportion of vacancies which are ultimately deemed to be usable are already committed for certain moves in the short term.

Where a provider has decided not to renew a contract for example, or where my Department must end a contract with a provider to ensure greater compliance or value for money, the BOTPs in residence will need to be moved elsewhere in the portfolio.

The number of uncommitted vacancies is therefore far lower than the number of available vacancies reported by providers.

My Department’s ongoing work to consolidate and tailor the BOTP portfolio to match with current and future need for BOTP related accommodation will mean a continued need for usable vacancies as contingency within the portfolio.

International Protection applicants

As of 14 July, there are nearly 31,500 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole (of whom 8,112 are children) compared with approximately 8,700 people at the end of February 2022.

IPAS have increased capacity by more than 400% since 2020, from just under 7,000 people on 31 December 2020 to more than 31,000 in June 2024.

My Department does not collate current vacant beds in our International Protection portfolio due to the variable nature of the data which changes on an hourly basis. However, I can advise the Deputy that the usable capacity available in the system over the last number of weeks has ranged between approximately 200 and 500 beds across 309 centres.

IPAS continues to make every effort to maximise bed usage across its system. Where beds are not being utilised this can be for a number of reasons, including family configuration, contract management issues, capacity to support triage and reception processes in circumstances where there is very limited line of sight on new accommodation for single male applicants, and spaces reserved for the accommodation of families and children arriving in the coming days.

My Department engages intensively and proactively on a continuing basis with providers of contracted accommodation to identify any available bed spaces at these locations. A programme of in person inspections of centres is also carried out which includes checks to ensure bed usage is maximised.

These processes are in place to ensure that every available bed within the IPAS portfolio is available to accommodate arriving international protection applicants.

IPAS releases weekly statistics in relation to international protection (IP) applicants. This includes a per county breakdown of where IP applicants are residing. These statistics are available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/07027-ipas-statistics/.