Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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258. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality in relation to international protection applicants that are not given an offer of accommodation upon arrival, the process by which those applicants are contacted when a subsequent offer of accommodation is made; the methods of communication used; and the length of time applicants are given to respond to the offer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54295/25]

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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259. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality in relation to international protection applicants not offered accommodation on arrival (details supplied), if he will provide a breakdown of the number of cases recorded as inactive because the applicant could not be contacted; the number recorded as inactive because the applicant expressly declined the offer of accommodation, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54296/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 258 and 259 together.

Due to severe shortages of accommodation over recent years, from December 2023, the State had insufficient capacity within the international protection accommodation system to accommodate all applicants requesting material reception conditions.

IPAS prioritised accommodation for women, families and those with specific needs, meaning that single male applicants were most affected by this shortage.

Since March, the Department has been working to review the list of those waiting longest, and to make retrospective offers to eligible people, and the number of people unaccommodated has reduced to 613 in October 2025.

If a new applicant cannot be offered accommodation on arrival, they are eligible for a weekly allowance of €113.80 per week, an increase of €75 from the standard weekly allowance for asylum-seekers.

While most unaccommodated people are not rough-sleeping, IPAS has arrangements in place with a range of NGO partners to provide drop-in day services for unaccommodated people who are. This means people can access facilities including hot showers, meals and laundry services. IPAS also makes offers of accommodation to any applicant who is rough sleeping, identified through outreach that is organised 7 days a week.

While the demand for IPAS accommodation remains high, the reduced rate of new applications has meant that IPAS bas been able to review the cases of people who are awaiting an offer of accommodation and make offers to those who have been waiting longest.

These applicants' cases are checked by IPAS to confirm that their case is active, and then they are contacted by IPAS through the contact details they provide to the International Protection Office (IPO). An offer of accommodation is made and they have a number of days to confirm that they still require accommodation and wish to accept the offer.

This review has reduced the outstanding number of unaccommodated people from a maximum of 3,500 in March 2025, to 613 in October 2025.

This means that eligible people who applied for international protection during 2023 and 2024 and up until August 2025 have received an offer of accommodation.

The breakdown of data requested with respect to offers refused is not collated or available.

Depending on availability of spaces and numbers of new applicants, we will continue to make offers of accommodation to more people over the coming weeks and months.

Updated information on unaccommodated international protection applicants is published online at Gov.ie.

www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/publications/statistics-on-international-protection-applicants-not-offered-accommodation/?referrer=