Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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130. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department will consider introducing legislation which requires all owners of IPAS centres to be legally required to declare and confirm their beneficial ownership as part of any IPAS application to provide accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68425/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Department is already taking action across all aspects of the international protection accommodation system to improve value for money, strengthen governance and compliance, and renegotiate contracts with providers.

This forms part of an overall reform of the International Protection system that is already working to speed up processing of applications and to move away from commercial provision to more State-owned accommodation.

The Department receives offers of international protection accommodation on an ongoing basis from external commercial providers. All offers are reviewed by the Department under a standardised appraisal procedure.

A dedicated team appraises each offer to accommodate people seeking international protection, and the Department carries out due diligence on the provider who is offering the accommodation service.

This includes checks on the provider offering the service to the Department via the Companies Registration Office (CRO) to ensure compliance with CRO requirements.

Providers must be registered in Ireland. Providers may be part of wider commercial groups and may also be operating in other EU member states, in line with EU principles of free movement of goods, services, and works.

Since 2024, each new or renewing provider of accommodation services must provide a declaration of their personal circumstances. This declaration, which must be notarised, confirms that they are tax compliant, free of any convictions for corruption, fraud or being a member of a criminal organisation. It also confirms that they are solvent and have no history of failing to meet terms of public service contracts, among other requirements.

Today’s standards of pre-contract assessments and negotiations could not be applied to all the accommodation that had to be sourced at pace from 2022 to 2024 during an unprecedented surge in demand.

Applications this year have reduced, and this has given sufficient space to put in place greater controls over the IPAS accommodation portfolio. A range of updated systems and procedures have been put in place and are already having an impact. IPAS has put improved processes in place for appraisal, validation, contracting and payments. A new rate-card pricing structure is being applied to all new or renewing contracts and has already provided savings of over €59m since May 2025.

I am satisfied that the current process in place allows the Department to comprehensively review the provider making an offer of accommodation, and to engage in appropriate contracts that protect State interest.

I am confident that the improvements brought into operation within this process since earlier this year have allowed the State to regain greater control over the accommodation system, and will continue to do so as reform continues.