Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1770. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of people that are resident in IPAS centres across the country, by year of arrival, centre location, age profile, gender and nationality, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21133/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1773. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children that are resident in IPAS centres across the country, by year of arrival, centre location, age profile, gender and nationality, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21136/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1775. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children that are resident in IPAS centres across the country, by year of arrival, centre location, age profile, gender and nationality, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21138/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1777. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of people working directly or indirectly in IPAS centres across the country, by role, centre location and the status of this employment (full- or part-time), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21176/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1963. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the position regarding the number of IPAS centres operating in the country, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21168/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1770, 1773, 1775, 1777 and 1963 together.

The State is currently accommodating over 33,000 people in over 320 IPAS centres around the country, about 9,000 of whom are children with their families.

The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) releases weekly statistics in relation to international protection (IP) applicants accommodated by IPAS. This includes a per county breakdown of where IP applicants are residing and a wide range of other details including gender and nationality. These statistics are located on the Gov.ie website: www.gov.ie/en/publication/07027-ipas-statistics/.

Since 2024, IPAS has not published details of the specific locations or the capacity or occupancy of our accommodation centres. This is due to both safety and security concerns, and to protect the privacy of international protection applicants in line with legal obligations under the International Protection Act 2015.

Furthermore, under Section 26 of the Act, the right to confidentiality of an IP applicant's identity is protected. Section 26(1) states that "The Minister and the Tribunal and their respective officers shall take all practicable steps to ensure that the identity of applicants is kept confidential".

IPAS has 325 accommodation centres across the country, with contracted accommodation providers employing various numbers of staff. Over 90% of our accommodation is commercially provided, and as part of the detailed appraisal process for each centre, requirements around staffing levels would be reviewed and confirmed with the provider.

The Department's Community Engagement Team (CET) provides detailed information to local stakeholders including elected representatives, in advance of an IPAS centre opening. A formal briefing note gives the full details of the property including the contracted capacity, resident profile and details about how the centre will be managed.

With regard to the number of people working directly or indirectly in such IPAS centres across the country, by role, centre location and the status of this employment (full- or part-time), we do not collate this data for publication.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1771. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the medical facilities available to residents in IPAS centres; if medical care is provided on site; in the case of minor medical issues, the provisions in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21134/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1772. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of times ambulances have been called to an IPAS centre nationally in the past five years, by year and location; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21135/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1774. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the position regarding the number of residents that have died in IPAS centres nationally in the past five years, by year, location and cause of death; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21137/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1776. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the position regarding the number of IPAS residents that have been hospitalised in the last five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21141/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1771, 1772, 1774 and 1776 together.

The safety and wellbeing of all residents and staff in our accommodation centres is our priority and we have guidelines in place for IPAS staff and Department officials in relation to responding quickly to any incidents, taking action to ensure people are safe.

The health needs of international protection (IP) applicants are met through the health services in Ireland, and services are provided through the Health Service Executive (HSE) in the first instance.

Services for all IP applicants, including healthcare, are mainstreamed and accessed through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens.

Residents in IPAS accommodation centres are entitled to a medical card and access GP services within the local community, and mental health services and other health services are accessed through primary care, GP referral, and emergency services. In some larger IPAS Centres, in-reach medical or health care services may also be provided, through local arrangements with the health services in the area.

Additionally, IPAS has a dedicated Resident Welfare Team, as well as a number of support officers, who direct highly vulnerable residents and those with specific health needs to relevant health services.

The Resident Welfare Team also engages with IPAS centre managers and NGOs to ensure that a person’s needs can be addressed within their current accommodation centre.

Please note that data with respect to ambulance calls or hospitalisations relating to residents in IPAS Accommodation Centres is not available to my Department.

As you may be aware, the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) has a policy on the recording and reporting of deaths of residents in accommodation centres. As part of that policy, IPAS publishes resident death statistics on a biannual basis with the most recent publication on 17 February 2025. From 2002 to date, 131 people died while resident in IPAS accommodation centres.

This information is available on the IPAS website and can be found at the following link:www.gov.ie/en/publication/8224f-statistics-on-deaths-of-international-protection-accommodation-service-residents/.