Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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141. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of people living in IPAS accommodation with status, broken down by county, and by nationality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60255/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The State is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people in 318 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country, over 9,500 of whom are children.

At the moment, almost 5,000 people in IPAS accommodation have a legal status allowing them to remain in Ireland. This is not a static number of people; approximately 11,000 people with status have moved out of IPAS accommodation since 2022, and almost 3,500 this year to date.

The table below sets out the number of people with legal status, broken down by local authority as at September 2025. The breakdown of data requested with respect to nationality is not collated or readily available.

When a person completes their international protection application and receives a positive decision, they have a legal status that allows them to remain in Ireland. This also means they gain access to the full range of housing supports available to all Irish residents, which are not available to people going through the application process.

There is a need for people with status to transition living independently in our communities, improving their integration into our society while also creating space within IPAS accommodation for newer arrivals.

It is essential that IPAS maintains enough accommodation to meet the needs of new applicants, who have a legal entitlement to IPAS accommodation, do not have immediate access to the labour market, and do not have access to standard housing benefits or standard social welfare entitlements.

To help people move from IPAS accommodation to find housing options in the community, IPAS has a team that works in collaboration with DePaul Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and Local Authorities.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of successful move-ons of people with status from IPAS accommodation to date in 2025; his Department’s definition of a successful move-on; the follow-up that is carried out on those who have moved-on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60256/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The State is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people in nearly 320 International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres around the country, over 9,500 of whom are children.

Currently, there are almost 5,000 people in IPAS accommodation that have a legal status allowing them to remain in Ireland. This is not a static number of people; approximately 11,000 people with status have moved out of IPAS accommodation since 2022.

This year, up to the end of September 2025, 3,466 people with a form of status left IPAS accommodation. The role of IPAS is to accommodate international protection applicants.

Once someone has been granted status, IPAS has no role in monitoring their onwards activity. General immigration registration records are not collated or managed in such as way as to track the residence of persons granted status.

When a person completes their international protection application and receives a positive decision, they have a legal status that allows them to remain in Ireland. This also means they gain access to the full range of housing supports available to all Irish residents, which are not available to people going through the application process.

There is a need for people with status to transition living independently in our communities, improving their integration into our society while also creating space within IPAS accommodation for newer arrivals.

It is essential that IPAS maintains enough accommodation to meet the needs of new applicants, who have a legal entitlement to IPAS accommodation, do not have immediate access to the labour market, and do not have access to standard housing benefits or standard social welfare entitlements.

To help people move from IPAS accommodation to find housing options in the community, IPAS has a team that works in collaboration with DePaul Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and Local Authorities.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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143. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the number of IPAS accommodation centres under HIQAs remit has fallen from 51 to 35 centres; which centres are now under HIQAs remit; if there are plans to expand HIQA's remit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60257/25]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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144. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of inspections of IPAS centres not under HIQA's remit have been carried out by an independent inspectorate to date in 2025; the number of centres covered by those inspections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60258/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 143 and 144 together.

The European Communities (Reception Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 commenced on 9 January 2024 and provide for the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to conduct inspections of certain accommodation centres contracted by the Department. A centre may no longer fall under HIQA’s remit for inspections following a change in contract. All centres, including those no longer under HIQA’s inspection remit, are inspected by International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) to ensure compliance with the relevant policies and standards.

The purpose of HIQA inspections is to ensure that IPAS accommodation centres are operating in compliance with the National Standards for accommodation offered to people in the protection process adopted in 2019 and in effect since the beginning of 2021. The National Standards address a range of issues relating to accommodation; food and catering; individual, community and family life; health and wellbeing; governance; and meeting the special reception needs of applicants seeking international protection.

48 IPAS accommodation centres were inspected by HIQA in 2024. 27 IPAS accommodation centres have been inspected by HIQA in 2025 to date. Inspection reports by HIQA can be viewed on www.hiqa.ie.

All accommodation centres are subject to routine inspections and compliance checks during the lifetime of the contract, either by Department officials, HIQA, or through IPAS-commissioned inspections. These inspections are fully transparent and published online regularly.

Reports of IPAS inspections are available online on gov.ie and numbers of inspections have increased significantly since 2023:

www.gov.ie/en/international-protection-accommodation-services-ipas/publications/ipas-inspection-reports/

In 2025 to date, there have been 372 inspections completed by the International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS), covering 341 separate properties. 202 of these inspections have been carried out by IPPS and 170 by an independent inspector. The inspection carried out by the independent inspector have covered 153 separate properties.

Where any centre has areas of partial or non-compliance identified during an inspection, a bespoke Compliance Plan is agreed and outlined in the inspection report, noting the specific and time-bound measures which will be taken in order to ensure full compliance with the National Standards.