Eugene Quinn and David Moriarty

Eugene Quinn is National Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Ireland, a position he has held since 2006. He was Chair of the Limerick Integration Working Group 2010-22. He was a member of the McMahon Working Group on the Protection Process, which reported to Government in June 2015. From 2002-06 Eugene was Director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Dublin.

David Moriarty is the Assistant Director with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Ireland. He jointly coordinates the policy and advocacy brief and oversees delivery of JRS projects, outreach and services in Direct Provision centres, Emergency Accommodation and other IPAS facilities nationwide. David holds an LLM in International Human Right Law from NUI Galway and has previously worked with Oxfam Ireland and the National Youth Council of Ireland.

SEEKING PROTECTION IN IRELAND: HOSPITALITY IN RETREAT

Record Levels of Forced Displacement

Ireland is a country synonymous with hospitality and welcome and the famed céad míle fáilte. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2024 triggered an unprecedented displacement of millions of refugees from the country and led the EU to invoke the Temporary Protection Directive.¹ Over the last two years more than 100,000 Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP) have arrived in Ireland. In parallel, record numbers of applications for international protection² (IP) have been received from other areas and zones of conflict across the world. More than 13,000 people sought protection in 2022 and 2023 10,604³ new applications have been received by 30 June 2024.

The generosity of the Irish people in receiving and accommodating so many protection seekers
despite a national housing crisis must be acknowledged. Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed in every city, every town, and every parish across the country. Alongside, there has been a huge increase in the number of IP applicants from other countries arriving. This has been reflected in International Protection
Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres accommodating record numbers of people seeking asylum in Ireland. At the end of June 2024 there were 31,375 applicants for international protection, including 7,994 children, living in 307 State accommodation centres across the country⁴

Ireland a Country of ‘One Hundred Thousand Welcomes’?

Despite the unprecedented support by the Irish State and its citizens, there are still many people seeking protection that cannot access appropriate shelter. This lack of available accommodation has led to asylum seekers sleeping on chairs and floors in transit centres and living in poor and overcrowded conditions in repurposed commercial buildings, converted warehouses, tents and army barracks. Since December 4th 2023, more than 4,000 IP applicants have not been offered accommodation on arrival, resulting in tented
encampments on the streets of Dublin.

Soon after the war started in Ukraine a ‘two-tier’ response in the provision of accommodation emerged. Property providers were willing to accommodate Ukrainian BOTPs, but not IP applicants fleeing other conflicts and wars across the world.

The surge in arrivals and the Government’s unplanned – and as a result chaotic – approach to accommodating IP applicants ignited a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, with protestors making the case not to receive more forcibly displaced persons because “Ireland is full”. Far-right tropes abound, with warnings about the dire consequences of “unvetted males of military age” and conspiracy theories around “replacement”, “plantation”, and “invasion” having gained traction among fear-filled sections of the general public. Anti-immigrant social media accounts and groups amplify fears, foment anger and call for protest and violence to counter the perceived threat immigration presents.

As a consequence, round the clock protests have become the norm at locations procured by IPAS to
house asylum seekers. In East Wall/Santry/ Coolock (Dublin), Inch (Clare), Rosscahill (Galway),
Ballinrobe (Mayo), Buncrana (Donegal), Dromahair (Leitrim), Rosslare (Wexford), Brittas/Newtownmountkennedy (Wicklow), and Roscrea (Tipperary) people have opposed the opening of
new accommodation centres.

There have been more than 20 fires at properties associated, sometimes incorrectly, with accommodating asylum seekers in 2023 and 2024. Deputy Garda Commissioner Shawna Coxon told an Oireachtas Justice Committee investigating these arson attacks, “this country has been fortunate so far that it has not suffered a death or deaths as a result of these arson attacks”⁵ on buildings earmarked or rumoured to be used for housing asylum seekers. The response of local politicians to the burning of Rosscahill House was equivocal. Councillor Noel Thomas (Independent Ireland), told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that Ireland should not continue to accept people looking for asylum “because the inn is full.”⁶

Protests have become more vehement, confrontational, and violent. In April 2024, the Taoiseach and Garda Commissioner condemned events at a protest in Newtownmountkennedy. Six arrests were made following violent clashes between Gardai and protesters. “We’ve seen an attempt to burn a small outhouse-type premises, but also then, disgracefully, attacks on members of An Garda Síochána who were attacked with stones, and vehicles have been damaged, and one vehicle, the vehicle behind me, was damaged with an axe.”⁷

A Guard was injured and 13 people arrested following a night of unrest on May 22nd, outside a newly contracted accommodation centre in Ballyogan, Co. Dublin, previously used to house Ukrainians. The first group of IP applicants to arrive at the centre could not access the facility due to a demonstration. Journalists reported banners reading “Get Them Out, Get Them Out” and “No Unvetted Migrants” on the gates to Ballyogan Centre⁸

There is external agitation at these protests. The language and rhetoric towards migrants is increasingly hostile and dangerous. A recent article in The Journal highlighted a banner held at the front of the Newtownmountkennedy protest which said “No plantation; send them back” and “We will not be replaced”. The Journal examined hundreds of posts and comments in a local Facebook group related to the protests. Many contain racist rhetoric, misinformation tropes and conspiracy theories about immigration including references to migrants as “vermin” that should be “housed in cages”.⁹

These protests and arson attacks are occurring at a time when more than 2,400 unaccommodated IP
applicants are on the streets with risks to health and wellbeing.¹⁰ There are real fears that if these incidents of arson and violent protests persist, it will inevitably result in loss of life. How has Ireland so quickly found itself following an anti-migrant pathway seen in many other EU member states? As Gerard Howlin noted “the immigration genie is out of the bottle and cannot simply be wished back in.”¹¹

THE RAPIDLY CHANGING CONTEXT FOR FORCED MIGRATION AND ASYLUM ACCOMMODATION

Global and Regional Forced Migration Trends

UNHCR reported in 2024 that there are more than 117.3 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide.¹² A prolonged war in Ukraine, fresh conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, and the aftermath of humanitarian crises such as the 2023 Syrian/ Turkey earthquake continue to force people to leave their homes and cross borders in record numbers.

In 2023, the EU+ (EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland) received the highest number of asylum applications since the 2015- 16 refugee crisis, with more than 1.14 million IP applications in the European bloc. This represents an 18% increase on the 966,107 new asylum applications EU+ countries received in 2022. In addition to a seven year high in asylum applications, 4.4 million displaced persons
from Ukraine are benefitting from Temporary Protection.

The EU Asylum Agency warned, “these concurrent trends – the surge in asylum applications and the influx of displaced persons from Ukraine – are exerting immense strain on the EU+ asylum and reception systems.”¹³

National Asylum Application Trends

Historically, Ireland has had relatively low numbers of IP applications but mirrored the trend in other EU states with a steep increase from the mid-1990s until 2002. There was a significant decrease after the Citizenship Referendum in 2004.

Ireland noticeably was not impacted by the increase in numbers arriving in 2015-2016 from the Syrian Refugee Crisis seen in other European countries. Applications began to increase steadily from 2017, until they were interrupted by COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Post-pandemic there has been a sharp increase in IP applications. In 2022 Ireland received a record number 13,651 applications, which represents 1.16% of new asylum applications in EU+ countries in that year and consistent with Ireland’s 1.14% share of the regional population. A similar level was sustained in 2023 with 13,248 new asylum applications.

The number of asylum applications in Ireland has continued to trend even more strongly upwards in the first half of 2024 with 10,604 applications received, an increase of 93.9% on the same period in 2023.¹⁶ On an annualised basis if this level is sustained, more than 20,000 new IP claims will be received this year.

The Irish Asylum Accommodation System at Breaking Point

In line with record levels of new asylum applications, the number of IP applicants residing in IPAS accommodation has grown exponentially from 7,244 at the end of 2021 to 31,375 at the end of June 2024. This does not include the further 2,400+ people seeking protection yet to be offered accommodation.

The arrival of 100,000 BOTPs from Ukraine since February 2022 has placed unprecedented demands on the State to provide accommodation. Of the 66,500 Ukrainian BOTPs in mid-2024 who are in State-sponsored accommodation, around 47,500 are in directly provided housing with a further 19,000 in pledged accommodation. This response is striking given there is an estimated 250,000 domestic vulnerable people and households with unmet housing needs in Ireland.

The asylum accommodation system in Ireland has been stretched to breaking point. Over the past two years living conditions have deteriorated rapidly. In June 2022, interviewed about the situation of 300 IP applicants being accommodated in the ‘overflow’ area of the Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin, the JRS Ireland National Director, Eugene Quinn, said: “It takes your breath away to see. It’s like a humanitarian disaster to see asylum seekers sleeping on floors and chairs.” He described the living conditions on RTE Radio News at One as “extraordinary and unacceptable” and “the worst he had seen in 16 years in the sector.”¹⁹

On two occasions the Irish State has stopped offering accommodation to single male asylum seekers who are, as a result, homeless. The Irish State is in breach of its international obligations under the EU Reception Conditions Directive, which require a Member State to provide a person seeking protection
with material supports, including accommodation. Although they have these rights under the Reception Directive, asylum seekers cannot access homeless services. Thus, when the State denies an IP applicant access to accommodation, it knowingly puts them on the street with all the associated risks to health and
wellbeing.

A reliance on private, short-term emergency accommodation has been unsustainable, hugely expensive, and failed to add meaningful capacity to the system. In spite of eye-watering expenditure – an estimated €640million in 2023²⁰ – the asylum accommodation system remains utterly broken.

ABSENCE OF STANDARDS: LIVING WITHOUT DIGNITY

Rapidly Deteriorating Living Conditions 2022 – 2024

Since the beginning of 2022 there has been a steep decline in the quality and standard of accommodation provided to IP applicants. The system has been overwhelmed by the unplanned and chaotic nature of accommodation procurement and allocation to newly-arrived asylum seekers.

Sleeping on Floors and Chairs

Failure to sufficiently increase the capacity of the traditional Direct Provision system, in parallel to recourse to inadequate Pre-Reception (six block-booked hotels) centres, ultimately resulted in both systems becoming overwhelmed by May 2022. As a consequence of insufficient bed spaces, conference rooms in the Citywest Transit Hub, Red Cow Hotel, and other locations were designated as “overflow facilities” for the purposes of providing temporary accommodation.

In practice, this amounted to recently arrived asylum seeking men, women, and children “living” on the floor in large open-plan conference rooms with no sleeping bags, pillows or bedding of any description provided. Initially there were also no designated hygiene/ wash facilities or access to healthcare. The basic dignity of IP applicants was denied and there was no privacy for families, giving rise to significant child protection and safeguarding risks.

JRS Ireland raised significant concerns about people sleeping on floors and chairs and the impact on the safety and wellbeing of residents in overflow facilities.²¹ This resulted in urgent transfers of some vulnerable individuals and measures to mitigate the most inappropriate living conditions. However, in the months that followed, the central Citywest Transit Facility – effectively a large open-plan conference arena – would regularly operate at over 200% of its capacity permitted under health and safety regulations. The lived reality for many asylum seekers during this time meant sleeping on chairs or other make-shift beds for weeks at a time, delayed access to shower facilities, fears for safety due to inadequate registration procedures and a chaotic and unsuitable living environment.

Threat to Family Life

By the end of 2022, alternative forms of accommodation, all temporary in nature and not originally designed to house people, became the new norm. These included sports stadiums, schools, university campus buildings, and warehouses. Soon a preferred alternative model of accommodation emerged: Re-purposed commercial accommodation – essentially, open office floors converted into pod living spaces, often separated only by flimsy partitions, which do not extend to the ceiling.

While the quality of re-purposed accommodation varies significantly across the IPAS portfolio, pods fundamentally fail to protect the privacy and dignity of families. Common concerns include the absence of separate showering facilities for children; cramped cubicles; inadequate laundry and bathroom facilities; a lack of appropriate space for children; a lack of natural light and the absence of privacy.

Also, groups of houses in estates or isolated rural locations have been designated as IPAS centres. Families of up to 5 persons are accommodated in single bedrooms, irrespective of the age and gender of children. This accommodation neither respects nor promotes family life and runs contrary to the best interests of the child. Placing children aged 10 and over of opposite gender in the same bedroom is in contravention of IPAS House Rules and longstanding best practice over many years.

Tented Accommodation

Utilisation of tents marked a shift in the reception conditions offered to IP applicants from the provision of accommodation to mere “shelter”. Since their introduction, JRS Ireland has consistently held the position that tents fail to meet the “basic needs” requirement under the EU Reception Conditions Directive and fall below the minimum standards required for a person to live with dignity.

The first iteration of tented accommodation was for eight persons. No furniture other than beds
were provided. Showers and toilets are external. Food is provided in open-plan communal settings.
Heating and lighting are drawn from generators or other external sources – and charitable donations of heaters, bedding, and adaptors have at times been required.

An intervention by the Irish President and the Taoiseach was needed to suspend the use of tents in Knockalisheen, Co. Clare, and to source alternative accommodation during the sub-zero conditions in December 2022. However, as with sleeping on floors, recourse to tented accommodation has also become mainstreamed and normalised, with a large IP encampment established in the former Central Mental Hospital (CMH) in Dundrum in South Dublin, and Ukrainian families temporarily housed at Stradbally, Co. Laois.

Even tented living conditions deteriorated with each new iteration. Residents in tents in Knockalisheen were provided with divan beds, while those in tents in the CMH Dundrum were on army cots. This meant IP applicants ended up using cardboard boxes from Dundrum Town Centre as makeshift mattresses.

The quality of commercial tents used in Crooksling, in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, are poorer and less durable than army ones. Furthermore, where previously eight people were in tents, now there
are six bunkbeds with twelve applicants sharing the same space. Inconsistent and uneven accommodation provision which has characterised the system now extends to tented facilities.

Unaccommodated Asylum Seekers: A New Low

A new low was reached in January 2023, when newly arrived single male asylum seekers were not
offered accommodation. Between January and May 2023, some 1,400 individuals were not offered
accommodation by IPAS. There was a high of 593 people sleeping rough for weeks at the worst point
during this period.²²

The practice of not accommodating male asylum seekers did dampen the number of new arrivals. However, new IP applications trended strongly upwards in the second half of 2023. The result was that on December 4th 2023 IPAS once again ceased offering accommodation to single male applicants.

Nevertheless, applicant numbers continued to increase in the first half of 2024. In the period 04/12/2023 – 25/07/2024, 4,087 single male IP applicants were not offered accommodation by the State on arrival but were given an additional contingency payment of €75 in lieu (an amount insufficient to secure alternative accommodation). While 1,652 of those were subsequently offered accommodation, 2,435 await offers.

Table 4: Number of Unaccommodated IPAs on 26/7/24²³

JRS supported a rapidly growing settlement of asylum seekers living in tents in the alleys behind the International Protection Office (IPO) on Mount Street in Dublin 2, through weekly outreach, accompaniment, and the provision of vouchers. In the course of this outreach, JRS found living conditions rapidly deteriorated as the number of tents increased daily. There were no toilets, showers or laundry
facilities available for the 150+ men, other than those provided in day services of homeless organisations some distance away. Rubbish was piled high and uncollected. Human waste was openly visible in drains and on the streets. This led to an outbreak of a wide range of medical conditions, including highly contagious skin conditions. JRS and other support organisations raised concerns with senior officials about an emerging humanitarian crisis.

Due to mounting public health concerns on 16 March 2024, 150 men were moved from tents around the IPO to the former HSE facility at Crooksling. Speaking on Newstalk, Eugene Quinn said: “This [centre] is effectively a short-term sticking plaster. People have been given access to toilets, shower facilities and food but it is not a long- term solution. We need a housing-led, whole of Government emergency response. Short term accommodation needs to be stood up on State land and longer-term additional State accommodation capacity added and resourced adequately.”²⁴

As the asylum seekers continued to arrive in record numbers, a new encampment developed on the Grand Canal. When this encampment grew to a level that could be not ignored, State agencies intervened again. The people in the tents were again moved to IPAS accommodation. The tents were destroyed, and fences were erected along the canal. This process was repeated with tents put up further along the canal. Since May 2024, IP applicants putting up tents given to them by the State are moved on by Gardaí without offers of accommodation. Ad-hoc tented encampments have developed in different locations across the city centre.

On 17 July 2024, the Irish Times reported tents housing 15 asylum seekers on Dublin’s quays were
attacked by men with knives and pipes. The tents were slashed and the belongings of some of the IP applicants thrown into the River Liffey.²⁵ The risks to the health and wellbeing of homeless unaccommodated IP applicants on the streets of Dublin are very real.

Accommodating with Dignity: Incontestable Case for Minimum Standards

A key recommendation of McMahon Working Group in 2015 was the establishment of a standard-setting committee and an inspectorate to ensure compliance across the sector.²⁶ Despite initial delays, a Standards Advisory Group was convened in 2017 and tasked with the development of standards that would “provide a framework for the continual development of person-centred, high-quality, safe and effective services and supports for residents living in [IPAS] accommodation centres.”²⁷ The resulting National Standards became legally binding in January 2021.

The subsequent February 2021 publication of the White Paper to end Direct Provision²⁸ marked a seismic shift in system reform, officially recognising Direct Provision as “not fit for purpose” and committing the Irish Government to phasing in a new model by the end of 2024. While this development essentially overtook efforts to operationalise the National Standards, it is worth noting that the White Paper Transition Team was charged with evaluating how to strengthen the National Standards during the process.²⁹

It was a welcome development when the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) were given responsibility for monitoring the compliance of existing centres (crucially however, Pre-Reception and Emergency Accommodation locations were excluded) during the transitional period, with inspections commencing in 2024 following pilot inspections earlier in 2023.

The National Standards aim to ensure “respect for the dignity of persons in the system and [to]
improve the quality of their lives.”³⁰ Any derogation from implementing National Standards or exclusion of any category of accommodation undermines the ability of the State to uphold the dignity of vulnerable persons seeking protection. JRS Ireland have consistently called for minimum standards across all forms of IPAS accommodation to enable all IP applicants to live with basic dignity.

THE WAY FORWARD

Establishing Pragmatic Minimum Standards

Given the need to speedily procure emergency accommodation over the past 24 months, it is understandable that not all properties procured would fully adhere with National Standards immediately.³¹ But it is unacceptable that there is no plan or timeframe for these forms of accommodation to become compliant.

The traditional system of Direct Provision consists of 50 centres, whereas more than 250 emergency accommodation centres have been opened in the last two years. There is an unquestionable need for the establishment of pragmatic minimum standards, applicable to all IPAS accommodation, that ensure basic dignity of residents is respected.

At a minimum, JRS Ireland recommends IPAS ensure:

• Every resident, especially children, are accommodated in a safe and secure environment;
• Every resident is accommodated in a permanent physical structure (not tents);
• Every resident has a bed (not a camp bed or military cot);
• Every family has access to an enclosed, private space;
• Every resident has access to appropriate washing and hygiene facilities;
• Every resident receives adequate food;
• Every resident has reasonable access to the medical care they need;
• Each person’s rights are progressively realised (a better standard of accommodation with each
  move);
• Medical screening / vulnerability assessment informs allocation of suitable
  accommodation.

A Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for International Protection Applicants

Minister Roderic O’Gorman acknowledged at the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for
International Protection Applicants launch in March 2024, that the system was“ in desperate need of reform” and “it’s clear the current system of accommodation isn’t working.”³² The Strategy outlines a move from private to State-owned provision, which ensures the State “holds the reins on accommodation, its location and its standards.”³³

It is proposed to scale up capacity to 35,000 bed spaces by the end of 2028, assuming
an average of 13,000-16,000 persons will arrive annually. This will be achieved through a blended
model of State-owned accommodation, commercial accommodation, and temporary commercial emergency accommodation. State-owned beds will seek to “raise the overall standard of accommodation within the system.”³⁴

The Strategy acknowledges the need for improved communication, targeted both at local community level and at national level. The process of community engagement with stakeholders when opening new IPAS centres has come under huge criticism following the disturbances and violence in Coolock. Local community groups and politicians in the area have argued there has been inadequate or no engagement with them around their concerns with plans for the former Crown Paints factory to house 500+ IP applicants.

The strategy contains a welcome commitment to the National Standards providing a framework for
person-centred, high-quality, safe and effective services and supports in IPAS accommodation. Yet
it warns “there is also an increasing likelihood that families, including women and children could find themselves without an offer of accommodation in the coming weeks or months.”

Increased Budgetary Resources

Under the Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy, the Government committed to develop a core
accommodation offering of 14,000 beds in State-owned facilities by 2028. Briefing materials
supplied by the Minister of Integration put “the cost of supplying 10,000 beds for asylum seekers
over 20 years at €5 billion, based on current prices – but argue that buying the same amount of
accommodation sourced from the private sector would potentially cost billions more again.”³⁶

for 2024 is 38% lower (€409 million). As the numbers of IP applicants arriving have continued to spiral upwards, it is difficult to understand these Government calculations. In light of the fact there has been a 93% increase in new asylum applications in the first half of 2024, it is clear a substantial supplementary
budget will be required.

The External Advisory Group in its 3rd Report in January 2024 recommended that “given the severe
accommodation shortages and the limitations of the private sector approach, there is an urgent need
to increase both current and capital spending from 2024 onwards.”³⁷

Will the Comprehensive Strategy Work?

While the Strategy contains welcome elements, significant doubts remain on its ability to deliver urgently needed additional capacity on time, to scale, and on budget. Implementation is the greatest challenge. It echoes the White Paper on Ending Direct Provision in that it is high on aspiration but low on detail as to how it will deliver the promised accommodation. The fact that the strategy spans the lifetime of the next Government raises questions about its feasibility.

There is a question of adequacy, given that 20,000+ new applicants are expected this year (well above the strategy’s 13-16,000 range). Yet near-term challenges remain of greatest concern.

As the numbers of unaccommodated applicants continues to grow, the Comprehensive Strategy contains no concrete detail on the type and scale of short-term contingency accommodation that can be brought onstream. The prospect of unaccommodated children and families living in squalid, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions in tents is unthinkable. Urgent action and a whole-of-Government response is required to prevent even greater humanitarian crises developing on the streets of Dublin.

JRS Ireland retains serious concerns that although the strategy is comprehensive in name, it is not in the detail. The deep structural risks and constraints in the Irish housing market are not clearly addressed. Also, the growing opposition in communities across the country to opening centres in their locality will be a very real practical constraint to delivery.

Rapid Build Accommodation on State Land

Since the onset of this crisis, JRS have advocated for the provision of rapid-build modular houses or portacabins on State land. This approach was also strongly endorsed by the 2nd Report of the External Advisory Group on Ending Direct Provision submitted to the Minister for Integration in July 23: “The State
could, and should, use emergency powers to prepare suitable State owned land for rapid build
accommodation. It has already used such powers to provide modular homes for Ukrainian refugees. If
no suitable sites are available the State should procure them, including if necessary, through
compulsory purchase, prepare them for rapid build and ensure that contracts for rapid build accommodation are launched.”³⁸

The failure to progress this practical recommendation while continuing to expend vast amounts on unsustainable and unsuitable private accommodation, including tents, is hard to fathom. The Government has been unwilling to date to use emergency powers to unlock additional accommodation for IP applicants. Ironically, the only derogation due to the emergency has been to compliance with National Standards in IPAS emergency centres, transit locations, and tents. The human cost of these decisions to the dignity of asylum seekers has been significant.

CONCLUSION

No Accommodation, No Minimum Standards, No Red Lines

There has been a shocking deterioration in living conditions for asylum seekers. While the intensive efforts by IPAS in the face of challenging circumstances to source and offer accommodation to every presenting IP applicant should be acknowledged, the current crisis around unaccommodated asylum seekers has drawn attention away from a lived reality of the worst living conditions encountered
by JRS Ireland in its 17-year history. A cruel irony is that this has occurred in a period the Government committed to end the system of Direct Provision.

Regrettably, with each iteration, a lower and ever more inadequate level of accommodation becomes
normalised. From Pre-Reception hotels to sleeping on floors and chairs to unsuitable pods in
repurposed commercial buildings to living in tents and army barracks, it reached a nadir with the denial of
accommodation.

The unacceptable, unsafe, and squalid living conditions in the tents around the IPO – that required an intervention on public health grounds –should have drawn a line in the sand. Ultimately however, when there is no offer of accommodation, minimum standards are rendered redundant and there are no red lines.

The asylum accommodation system is utterly broken. The risks to health and safety of unaccommodated
IP applicants is growing. The State provides tents and then threatens arrest if they are used in public spaces. The dangers to those on the streets are very real. At the same time, many applicants silently suffer in inhumane, unsuitable, and overcrowded living conditions in emergency and temporary centres with their basic needs unmet, without dignity or basic minimum standards.

It is an indictment of the Government’s failure to act and adequately respond over the last two years.

Recommended Next Steps

Housing has been the greatest failure of successive Irish Governments. The unprecedented accommodation demands arising from 100,000+ Ukrainian refugees and rocketing IP applications post-Covid in Ireland has seen the accommodation challenge develop into a full-blown emergency.

The Government’s reliance on a private market-led model has proved unsustainable, hugely expensive, and not ‘fit for purpose’. The recent Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy is high on aspiration but low on detail. It already looks inadequate with arrivals trending significantly higher than the numbers contained in the strategy’s projections.

JRS Ireland is calling on the Government to:

1. (i) Establish a whole-of-Government Emergency Asylum Accommodation Response, similar to NPHET
2. during Covid, but led by Housing experts;
3. (ii) Identify all possible accommodation options to ensure every applicant
4. is accommodated on arrival and the current practice of not offering accommodation is ceased;
5. (iii) Have recourse to emergency powers to enable rapid-build houses or portacabins being developed
6. on State land;
7. (iv) Allocate sufficient budgetary resources to meet growing asylum accommodation demands on the
8. ground, with capital and current spend increased appropriately;
9. (v) Ensure all private emergency asylum accommodation is subject to practical minimum standards
10. that enable all
11. applicants to live with basic dignity.

Fear or Fáilte?

Over the past year, concerns about the response to increased numbers arriving in search of protection has polarised public opinion. Violence and confrontation at protests (Coolock, Ballyogan and Newtownmountkennedy) is becoming the norm when IPAS tries to open new centres. A battle for hearts and minds on how to respond to new IP applicants arriving, especially single males, is being waged across the country and in local communities.

The Government has singularly failed in its communication with receiving communities. The chaotic, disjointed and reactive response of the Government has fanned rather than assuaged fears among the general public. Even people well-disposed to welcoming asylum seekers are disturbed at the poor and unsafe living conditions and a failure to receive and accommodate IP applicants with basic dignity and in accordance with minimum human rights standards.

The Government has singularly failed in its communication with receiving communities. The chaotic, disjointed and reactive response of the Government has fanned rather than assuaged fears among the general public. Even people well-disposed to welcoming asylum seekers are disturbed at the poor and unsafe living conditions and a failure to receive and accommodate IP applicants with basic dignity and in accordance with minimum human rights standards.

Ireland is at a crossroads. Can the Irish people resist the fear-filled calls to shift to a more closed and less hospitable approach to receiving asylum seekers and choose to stay open and welcoming to those arriving on our shores in search of safety and protection from conflict and hunger?

Footnotes:

1. European Union: Council of the European Union, Council Directive 20 01/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on Minimum Standards for Giving Temporary Protection in the Event of a Mass Influx of Displaced Persons and on Measures Promoting a Balance of Efforts Between Member States in Receiving such Persons and Bearing the Consequences Thereof, OJ L.212/12-212/23; 7.8.2001, 2001/55/EC, 7 August 2001. ↩︎
2. International protection applicant and asylum seekers are synonyms. Both refer to people who have crossed borders and sought the protection of another State, but a final determination on their protection/ asylum claim has not been made. ↩︎
3. International Protection Office (2024) ‘IPO Monthly Statistics Report for June 2024’. ↩︎
4. Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2024) ‘IPAS Weekly Accommodation and Arrivals Statistics’, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/297716/8e069bc9-8c2e-4374-9c53-88c1e43500f4.pdf#page=null (accessed on 25/7/24) ↩︎
5. Jonathan McCambridge, “Country fortunate spate of arson attacks has not led to loss of life, says Coxon”, The Irish News, March 6th 2024, https://www.irishnews.com/news/ireland/country-fortunate- spate-of-arson-attacks-has-not-led-to-loss-of-life-says-coxon- PQKWYIGYD5AXPCJIHE24GKXTYE/ ↩︎
6. Conor Gallagher and Cormac McQuinn, “Gardaí believe Galway hotel fire the work of local opposed to immigration” The Irish Times, December 19th 2023,
   https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2023/12/19/galway-hotel-fire-gardai-believe-local-person-opposed-to-immigration-behind-arson-attack/ ↩︎
7. Emmet Malone, “Newtownmountkennedy protests: Taoiseach condemns ‘thuggery’ after violent clashes with gardaí at site earmarked for asylum seekers”, The Irish Times, April 26th 2024, https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2024/04/26/newtownmountkennedy-protest-wicklow-asylum-seekers-gardai-arrest-protesters-clashes/ ↩︎
8. Cathal Ryan, “Garda injured and 13 arrested following night of unrest at Ballyogan asylum seeker site”, Irish Mirror Online, 23 May 2024, https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/garda-injured-13-arrested- ballyogan-32871024 ↩︎
9. Eoghan Dalton and Stephen McDermott, “From private Facebook groups to a clash with gardaí: Inside the Newtownmountkennedy standoff”, The Journal, May 1st 2024, https://www.thejournal.ie/newtownmountkennedy-protests-migration-6367932-May2024/ ↩︎
10. Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2024) ‘Statistics on International Protection Applicants not offered accommodation’. ↩︎
11. Gerard Howlin, “The immigration genie is out of the bottle and cannot be simply wished back in”, The Irish Times, February 14, 2023, https://wwwirishtimes.com/opinion/2023/02/14/the-immigration-genie-is-out-of-the-bottle-and-cannot-be-simply-wished-back-in/ ↩︎
12. UNHCR (2023) ‘Forced displacement continues to grow as conflicts escalate’. ↩︎
13. European Union Agency for Asylum (2024) ‘Latest Asylum Trends 2023 Annual Analysis’. ↩︎
14. ibid ↩︎
15. International Protection Office, available at www.ipo.gov.ie/en/ipo/pages/ statistics; Houses of the Oireachtas, “Asylum Applications. – Wednesday, 4 Apr 2007 – Parliamentary Questions (29th Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas,” text, April 4, 2007, Ireland, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2007-04-04/128; Houses of the Oireachtas, “Asylum Applications Data – Wednesday,
    27 Sep 2017 – Parliamentary Questions (32nd Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas,” text, September 27, 2017, Ireland, https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2017-09-27/116; ↩︎
16. Maggie Doyle, “72% increase in number seeking asylum compared with first three months of last year”, RTÉ, April 4, 2024, https://www.rte.ie/ news/ireland/2024/0404/1441672-asylum-latest/ ↩︎
17. Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2023), ‘IPAS Weekly Accommodation and Arrivals Statistics – Report date 31/12/2023’; Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2024), ‘IPAS Monthly Statistics June 2024’. ↩︎
18. Central Statistics Office (2024) ‘Ireland’s Relationship with Ukrainian People and their Economy’. ↩︎
19. RTE Radio One (2022), ‘Concerns raised about overcrowding at hotel’, News at One Monday 13 June 2022, https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22108932/ ↩︎
20. Jack Horgan-Jones and Sorcha Pollak, ‘New asylum-seeker accommodation agency is under consideration’, The Irish Times, April 4, 2024, https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/04/04/work-on-agency-dedicated-to-dealing-with-migrant-accommodation-to-get- under-way/ ↩︎
21. Pat Coyle, “Asylum Seekers Sleeping on Hotel Floors,” Jesuits Ireland (blog), June 13, 2022,
    https://jesuit.ie/news/asylum-seekers-sleeping-on- hotel-floors/. ↩︎
22. Irish Refugee Council (2023) ‘Now I Live on the Road: The experience of homeless international protection applicants in Ireland’, Dublin: IRC. ↩︎
23. “Statistics on International Protection Applicants Not Offered Accommodation,” December 12, 2023,
    https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/ec5f2-statistics-on-international-protection-applicants-not- offered-accommodation/ (access on 26/07/2024) ↩︎
24. James Wilson, “Asylum Seeker Accommodation Issue Needs ‘emergency Response’ from Government,” Newstalk, accessed August 12, 2024,
    https://www.newstalk.com/news/asylum-seeker-accommodation-issue-needs-emergency-response-from-government-1707888. ↩︎
25. Sorcha Pollak, “Gardaí Investigate Alleged Attack on Asylum Seekers’ Camp in Dublin City Centre,” The Irish Times, accessed August 12, 20
    24,
    https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2024/07/17/gardai-investigate-alleged-attack-on-asylum-seekers-camp-in-dublin-city- centre/. ↩︎
26. ‘Working Group to Report to Government on Improvements to the Protection Process, including Direct Provision and Supports to Asylum Seekers -Final Report June 2015’ (McMahon Report), Dublin: Department of Justice and Equality, Recommendation 4.226. ↩︎
27. Department of Justice & Equality (2019), ‘National Standards for accommodation offered to people in the protection process’, Dublin: Department of Justice & Equality. ↩︎
28. Government of Ireland (2021), ‘A White Paper to End Direct Provision and to Establish a New International Protection Support Service’, Dublin: Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. ↩︎
29. Albeit within the confines that the National Standards apply to congregated settings – which the White Paper seeks to move away from. ↩︎
30. Department of Justice & Equality (2019) ↩︎
31. Catherine Martin T.D. (2023) Direct Provision System, Tuesday, 17 October 2023, Dáil Éireann Debate. ↩︎
32. Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, ‘Government agrees new comprehensive accommodation strategy for International Protection applicants’, March 27 2024,
    https://www.gov. ie/en/press-release/9ed23-government-agrees-new-comprehensive-accommodation-strategy-for-international-protection-applicants/. ↩︎
33. Ailbhe Conneely, ‘4,000 State-owned beds for IP applicants by 2028 under revised plan’, RTÉ, March 27, 2024, https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2024/0327/1440150-ireland-politics/ ↩︎
34. Government of Ireland (2024) ‘Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for International Protection Applicants’, Dublin: Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. ↩︎
35. ibid. ↩︎
36. Jack Horgan-Jones, ‘State to spend €5bn housing asylum seekers over next 20 years, Ministers told’, The Irish Times, April 2, 2024, www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/04/02/cost-of-state-owned-accommodation-for-asylum-seekers-put-at-5bn-between-now- and-2044/ ↩︎
37. C Day, D Donoghue, L Sirr, ‘Report No.3 from the External Advisory Group on Ending Direct Provision’, January 2024 ↩︎
38. C Day, D Donoghue, L Sirr, ‘Report No.2 from the External Advisory Group on Ending Direct Provision’, July 2023, ↩︎

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