John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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368. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he has considered a surcharge/tax on the profits that the largest operators of IPAS centres have been making for redistribution among the wider local community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23003/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Over 33,000 international protection applicants are accommodated in over 320 IPAS Accommodation Centres nationwide. IPAS accommodation centres are a mix of State-owned centres, long-term centres and emergency international protection accommodation centres.

Due to the significant shortages of available accommodation and increased demand over recent years, the Department's International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) has contracted a significant amount of commercially provided accommodation of various configurations. More than 90% of IPAS accommodation is commercially provided at this time.

My Department is working hard toward developing a more stable and sustainable accommodation system in this sector. Huge efforts are underway to source and bring into use suitable longer-term international protection accommodation facilities, in line with the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy (CAS).

This focuses on the increased use of State-owned land for emergency tented, prefabricated and modular units, and targeted purchasing of turnkey properties. This will also include the design and building of new Reception and Integration Centres and upgrading of IPAS Centres.

In relation to your question on charges, you will appreciate that the Department of Finance holds responsibility for tax policy. That Department has advised mine that the tax system is not the appropriate vehicle for targeted objectives of the nature outlined by the Deputy. The tax system contains rules for the calculation of profits, and tax payable thereon, based on broad Schedules and Cases of income.

Any proposal to apply different tax treatment to a sub-set of providers of any service would be contrary to this established approach and could be liable to challenge on a number of grounds.

It is also general practice that specific tax receipts are not hypothecated to specific expenditure proposals – rather, tax receipts accrue to the Exchequer and specific expenditure proposals are determined by the relevant Government Departments under the annual Budgetary process.

As my Department progresses Government policy on international protection and immigration overall, and increases the supply of State-owned accommodation, the degree of reliance on commercial sector will reduce in parallel.