Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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28. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a facility (details supplied) is still being considered to house applicants for international protection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35259/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Providing reception conditions – accommodation and other basic supports – to people seeking international protection is part of Irish and EU law.

A portion of the Irish Prison Service site at Thornton Hall in North Dublin was identified by the State in 2024 as having potential to assist with delivering emergency temporary accommodation for people seeking international protection.

In August 2024, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth (DCEDIY), which held responsibility for the provision of international protection accommodation at that time, put in place a Ministerial Order to provide a planning exemption for works on a defined part of the Thornton Hall site, and initial works commenced.

In October 2024, a Judicial Review was brought by representatives of local residents into the procedures that were applied in developing the Ministerial Order and this led to works on the site being paused. The Department decided to set aside the Ministerial order in November 2024, works at the Thornton Hall site remain paused, and the site at Thornton Hall is fully secured.

Thornton Hall remains part of long-term plans to implement the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for international protection.

The Programme for Government 2025 commits to a range of measures to enhance prison infrastructure and increase prison capacity by 1500 additional spaces and the construction of a new prison at the Thornton Hall site.

Last month I presented the findings of the Future Prison Capacity Working Group to cabinet. Long range projections prepared by the group indicate that Ireland’s prison population out to 2035 will continue to grow and that there is a pressing need to increase prison capacity.

The findings support and will also inform future developments at Thornton Hall site as a whole, subject to the necessary funding being secured through the Government’s review of the National Development Plan.