Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 April 2024
113. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to outline his accommodation plans for international protection applicant refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19263/24]
View answerThe Programme for Government made a commitment to replace the current system of accommodation and supports for International Protection (IP) applicants. As part of this process, the Government approved A White Paper to End Direct Provision and Establish a new International Protection Support Service in February 2021. The White Paper set out a new policy for the accommodation of IP applicants and ensures they are assisted to integrate into Ireland from day one, with health, housing, education, and employment supports at the core of the new system.
Since the publication of the White Paper there has been an exponential growth in applications for International Protection with over 30,000 new arrivals since January 2022. This increase has placed significant pressure on the Department’s capacity to source viable accommodation for new arrivals in 2023.
In this context there was a recognition that the underlying assumptions on which the White Paper was based needed to be re-examined as it was originally based on 3,500 new arrivals each year. In this regard a review of the implementation approach for the White Paper was initiated which has included inputs from the White Paper Programme Board and the External Advisory Group.
The review has resulted in the development a new Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for IP applicants. The strategy seeks to address the current accommodation shortfall, while reforming the system over the longer term to ensure the State will always be able to meet its international commitments.
The reforms will see a move away from full reliance on private providers and towards a core of State-owned accommodation, delivering 14,000 State-owned beds by 2028 – quadruple the previous commitment under the White Paper. This will be supplemented, as required, by high standard commercial providers.
Accommodation in the new strategy will be delivered through the following multi-strand approach:
• Use of State land for prefabricated and modular units
• Conversation of commercial buildings
• Targeted purchase of medium and larger turnkey properties
• Design and build of new Reception and Integration Centres
• Upgrading of IPAS centres.
The multi-strand approach focuses on both increasing State owned permanent capacity, and the upgrading of additional contingency accommodation, developed to specific national standards, to build an effective system to meet the new realities of increasing need while enabling the State to discharge its duty to meet the material reception conditions of IP Applicants, according to the guiding principles of the White Paper.
In order to deal with the demand led nature of the system, the commissioning of emergency commercial accommodation will continue to be a feature in the short to medium term. This accommodation will be contracted on shorter-term basis and if application numbers drop, can be decommissioned as contracts expire. It is planned that as new State owned and permanent commercial accommodation comes on stream the use of this emergency accommodation will reduce.
Once sufficient State owned accommodation has been delivered over the coming years, and emergency accommodation reduced substantially, the Government may, at that point, seek to reduce further the proportion of remaining permanent accommodation delivered by commercial providers and move to a fully or predominately State owned system. The full Comprehensive Accommodation Strategy for IP applicants can be accessed www.gov.ie/en/publication/ad46c-updates-and-reports/ .
