Over 1,000 PEOPLE who have arrived to Ireland to seek international protection have not been offered State accommodation.

The latest figures, published by the Department of Integration today, show that 1,010 people have not been offered State accommodation upon arrival, the highest number of people since accommodation ran out in December. 

Speaking in Dublin today, Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman described the situation as “concerning” and that a proposal for an accommodation strategy will be brought before the Dail in the “next number of weeks”.

The Department is currently still prioritising women and families who are entering Ireland in hopes of being granted international protection.

O’Gorman said today that while this will remain the priority of his department, it does involve it sourcing additional accommodation.

“We’re doing that and we’re able to meet those numbers at the moment but it is tight – even in terms of the provision of accommodation for families and female applicants,” he told reporters today.

Protection applicants who are not provided accommodation receive a temporary increase of €75 to their Daily Expense Allowance. This will increase the allowance from the current rate of €38.80 per week to €113.80 a week for all eligible applicants.

David Moriarty, Assistant Director of Jesuit Ireland, told RTÉ Radio One’s News At One that the lack of accommodation “needs to be viewed as a crisis”. 

Moriarty said: “It needs to be a housing-led response that brings on accommodation on an urgent basis.

“I appreciate how challenging it is, I appreciate the unprecedented numbers that are arriving into the country seeking international protection, but we’re not seeing that urgency and we’re not seeing that accommodation coming on stream.”

The minister said today that the strategy, which is to be put to Cabinet in the coming weeks, “recognises that the existing system needs to be reformed”.

He said it also recognises that there is a need to provide rapid accommodation for those arriving in Ireland and have not received State accommodation.

O’Gorman added there are “detailed discussions taking place” across Government on the issue. 

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