THE MINISTER FOR Migration, Fine Gael’s Colm Brophy, today said that he is not aware of plans to purchase Dublin’s Citywest Hotel to house international protection applicants. 

The Irish Times reported yesterday that Cabinet has been considering the purchase of the  764-bedroom hotel, and are set discuss the purchase as soon as Tuesday. The facility could reportedly house up to 1,000 people.

The report comes as the Department of Justice stepped back from contentious plans to convert the site of the former Crown Paints in Coolock to Ipas accommodation. The site had been at the centre of many protests – some of which turned violent. 

Speaking today on RTÉ’s This Week, Brophy was asked about the report and whether it was accurate. 

Brophy reiterated that he is a Minister of State and is therefore not privy to what is discussed during Cabinet meetings. 

“I cannot comment on what is going to Cabinet on Tuesday for the very simple reason that as a Minister of State, I am not a member of the cabinet, so I don’t have access to it,” he told host Justin McCarthy.

“I have the same level of knowledge that you have, which is you’ve read an Irish Times report and I’ve read an Irish Times report, so you’re asking me to actually say something, as if I knew when I don’t actually have access.”

Brophy said he is “absolutely aware of [the government's] program, of what we’re looking to purchase. I am not aware of the specific memo that is going to Cabinet on Tuesday.”

Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who was also on the programme, and Brophy argued over the state’s approach to both Coolock and Ipas more generally.

Ó Ríordáin said that the government had “made a bags of it”, referring to its handling of Coolock, while Brophy later labelled Ó Ríordáin’s assertions as “rubbish”.