SOME ASYLUM SEEKERS living in tented accommodation have been moved indoors temporarily while weather warning are in place. 

A Status Orange wind warning is in place across the country, with some counties being issued a Red warning as part of Storm Darragh.

The Department of Integration has said that its contingency plans for extreme weather events have been implemented.

These include moving asylum seekers living in tents to indoor accommodation either on site or at another lcoation.

The accommodation centres at River Lodge in Wicklow moved residents offsite, while those in the Knockalisheen centre in Clare were moved into a building on the premises.

“We also operate an out-of-hours phone service which centre managers can contact in the event of any incidents outside of normal business hours,” a spokesperson for the Department said.

They added: “Reports of inadequate bedding in tents has been fully investigated and confirmed as completely false.”

During low temperature warnings last month, there were fears that asylum seekers may become seriously ill or even die while sleep rough or in tents.

Activists who work with international protection applicants accused the government of being slow to act, only helping people when they’re at “their most vulnerable”.

The weather warnings at the time were at Status Yellow level.

While not all asylum seekers were moved indoors, the Department said the tents were “robust” and “weather proof”.

This is contrary to reports from people living them, who claimed that water was getting in, heaters provided weren’t sufficient, and there was no power source to charge phones.

Since December 2023, the Department has not had sufficient capacity available to accommodate all people seeking international protection.

“While most people have found their own accommodation, some have been forced to sleep rough,” the Department spokesperson said.

“In response to the weather warnings, IPAS is providing an offer of temporary shelter for people seeking international protection who are actively rough sleeping.

“Offers will be made through the standard outreach referral process that IPAS has in place.”

This arrangement, they said, is “temproary in nature”. Any people seeking international protection who arrive in Ireland over the weekend during the weather warnings will also be provided with temporary accommodation.

A large number of people are to be re-accommodated after they set up at least 60 tents outside the Dáil in Dublin.

The group, of mostly men, set up the tents following a government decision to move them out of an International Protection Accommodation centre in Citywest in Dublin.

The group were directed to remove their tents on Kildare Street by gardaí on Thursday afternoon and were later offered housing at a different site.