Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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564. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of beneficiaries of temporary protection, and international protection applicants, currently residing in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare; the reason his Department continues to enter into accommodation contracts in this town when its local population has increased four-fold, but provision of supports in areas like education and healthcare have not increased on a pro-rata basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41616/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Government is committed to supporting all those seeking international protection in Ireland, and to continuing to provide shelter and support to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Ireland currently provides accommodation to 32,000 people applying for international protection and has welcomed over 109,000 people from Ukraine since 2022.

International protection

At the moment, there are over 32,000 people accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system as a whole, compared with approximately 7,000 people at the end of August 2022.

Of those 32,000 people, approximately 9,000 are children. People are accommodated at over 300 locations, in every county in Ireland.

Emergency centres have been opened in all parts of the country, and intensive efforts are underway to source suitable accommodation, in line with the Government's Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy.

Despite this, significant shortages of accommodation are being seen, and since last December 2023, over 2,700 people who have applied for international protection since December 2023 have not been offered accommodation.

IPAS provides accommodation as part of Irish and EU law and also under our humanitarian duty to provide shelter to people fleeing war and persecution in their home country.

The Department does not collate data for international protection accommodation by individual town, but data can be provided by County or by Local Electoral Area (LEA).

Currently, there are 329 International Protection applicants residing in the Ennistymon LEA as a whole, and 1007 applicants residing in Co. Clare.

Due to the urgent obligation to provide safety and shelter to international protection applicants, the Department is not in a position to refuse offers of suitable accommodation, nor are we able to consider excluding offers of accommodation from any one county or area.

In terms of local services and integration of people into the community, any new facilities are supported by this Department’s Community Engagement Team, and this involves linking in with local state services, like the Local Authority, Education and Health Services, to support the process of welcoming new arrivals and supporting them to access services in the area.

The Government's Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy (CAS) for people seeking IP aims to address the current serious shortfall in accommodation and build a more sustainable system for the longer term. Accommodation in the new strategy is being delivered through the use of State land for prefabricated and modular units, conversion of commercial buildings, and targeted purchasing of turnkey properties.

It will also involve design and build of new Reception and Integration Centres and upgrading of IPAS Centres. This will be supplemented, as required, by high standard commercial providers.

Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection

My Department does not publicly detail information by town, in the manner requested by the Deputy, this is in the interest of the privacy and security of residents and providers.

Currently, there are 1897 people affected by the war in Ukraine, Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, living in Co. Clare.

Due to continuing downward trends in Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) seeking accommodation from the State coupled with increases in BOTPs leaving State-provided accommodation to seek more independent living, vacancies have arisen in my Department’s portfolio of commercial BOTP accommodation. These vacancy numbers change daily in response to moves in and out of accommodation and while they can appear significant at times, not all of these vacancies can be used in the short term.

Where a provider has not committed to renewing a contract or where an issue has been raised with my Department such that the provider’s offering is under review, vacancies cannot be used until these matters have been resolved. In addition, where contracts will end in the short term, a certain proportion of the portfolio of vacancies must be maintained so as to facilitate the movement of resident BOTPs.

Notwithstanding these limitations, my Department has recently undertaken a priority review of capacity within the BOTP portfolio to identify any vacancies that can be used for International Protection (IPs) applicants in the short term and has begun engaging with providers in this regard. Up to 500 spaces have been identified and actions are now underway to move IPs into properties where BOTPs are and where vacancies exist with the agreement of the providers concerned.

Following the Government decision to implement a time limited accommodation offering for BOTPs seeking accommodation in the State, my Department has paused the procurement of commercial accommodation to accommodate BOTPs; providers visiting the offers portal are instead encouraged to consider accommodating IPs. Work has also begun to consolidate the wider BOTP portfolio so that it better aligns with future needs. Where contracts are being ended as part of this process, my Department will work to identify accommodation which could be suitable for use for IP. This is however a commercial decision to be made by the providers concerned and their agreement will be needed to make this happen.

While my Department is working to progress this as quickly as possible, this will be an ongoing process due to complexities of room configuration, contractual matters, and the requirement to move BOTPs to alternative accommodation.

Further break downs of the information gathered, including a per county breakdown is available on the below links:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/07027-ipas-statistics/.

www.gov.ie/en/publication/9ac7b-accommodation-of-beneficiaries-of-temporary-protection-botps/

Further information with respect to BOTPs is published by the CSO on an anonymised basis as part of its Arrivals from the Ukraine series www.cso.ie/en/statistics/population/arrivalsfromukraineinireland/.

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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565. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the international protection accommodation office or any official in his Department has received complaints or requests for assistance from persons housing beneficiaries of temporary protection or international protection applicants regarding subletting of property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41626/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In relation to the provision of access to temporary accommodation for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs), my Department has procured a broad range of accommodation types, including hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs, hostels, self-catering accommodation and certain other repurposed settings.

My Department has been made aware of some instances where it became apparent that the service provider or potential service provider for temporary accommodation to BOTPs was not the outright owner of the property and had not obtained permission from the owner before making an offer to my Department. In one such circumstance, the contract was not signed by my Department. In another instance, where a service provider had already been providing accommodation services before my Department was made aware that they had not obtained permission from the owner and the own sought the return of the property, the contract was terminated.

Any complaint or request for assistance to my Department from persons providing accommodation for BOTPs is reviewed by officials in my Department. It should be noted that my Department is not currently contracting additional accommodation for BOTPs from new or existing provider.

In relation to accommodation for people applying for International Protection, IPAS accommodation centres are located at over 320 locations around the country and are primarily group accommodation sites, with centre management, staffing and central services provided directly to residents. Accommodation centres are of varying types, some permanent centres and some emergency centres contracted to the Department to provide accommodation.

IPAS regularly engages with centres to ensure compliance with contracts and standards with particular focus on the wellbeing of international protection applications. A small number of compliance issues have arisen across IPAS’s property portfolio of 320 centres. These issues are actively addressed with service providers as they arise and are followed up in terms of any regulatory issues, or welfare issues for residents.

When an external offer of accommodation for international protection applicants is received, the International Protection Procurement Service sends a proposal template to the prospective provider that they are required to complete and return. The proposal template seeks to gather as much information as is reasonably practicable to facilitate an objective assessment of the suitability of the premises to accommodate people seeking IP, and the right of the proposer to make the offer.

The provider must ensure that the property is of an adequate standard and that the provider will provide the services in accordance with good industry practice and comply with all applicable laws including but not limited to all obligations in the field of health and safety, environmental, social, child protection, and labour law that apply at the place where the services are provided.

If a property is contracted and it is later brought to the attention of my Department that a provider might be in contravention of their contractual obligations, my Department will take the appropriate steps to ensure an accommodation provider rectifies these matters in compliance with the relevant legislation.

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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566. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the international protection accommodation office or any official in his Department is aware of instances of beneficiaries of temporary protection or international protection applicants subletting property used to accommodate them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41627/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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In relation to Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, in the circumstance where my Department is made aware of cases where a current or potential service provider is not the outright owner of the property where Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) are residing, or has not obtained permission from the owner before entering a contract with my Department, the case is reviewed by a dedicated team in my Department.

Officials have advised that my Department has been made aware of such cases in the past, and in each instance the contract was terminated after full review. It should be noted that my Department is not currently contracting additional accommodation for BOTPs from new or existing providers. This situation will be kept under review.

In relation to accommodation for people applying for International Protection, IPAS accommodation centres are located at over 320 locations around the country and are primarily group accommodation sites, with centre management, staffing and central services provided directly to residents.

We are currently accommodating over 32,000 people, of whom 9,000 are children with their families.

A small number of compliance issues have arisen across IPAS’s property portfolio of 320 centres. These issues are actively addressed with service providers as they arise and are followed up in terms of any regulatory issues, or welfare issues for residents.

Accommodation centres are of varying types, some permanent centres and some emergency centres contracted to the Department to provide accommodation.

IPAS regularly engages with centres to ensure compliance with contracts and standards with particular focus on the wellbeing of international protection applications.

When an external offer of accommodation for international protection applicants is received, the International Protection Procurement Service sends a proposal template to the prospective provider that they are required to complete and return. The proposal template seeks to gather as much information as is reasonably practicable to facilitate an objective assessment of the suitability of the premises to accommodate people seeking IP, and the right of the proposer to make the offer.

The provider must ensure that the property is of an adequate standard and that the provider will provide the services in accordance with good industry practice and comply with all applicable laws including but not limited to all obligations in the field of health and safety, environmental, social, child protection, and labour law that apply at the place where the services are provided.

If a property is contracted and it is later brought to the attention of the Department that a provider might be in contravention of their contractual obligations, the Department will take the appropriate steps to ensure an accommodation provider rectifies these matters in compliance with the relevant legislation.

I trust this information is helpful.