International Protection Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-25
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

-----in order to get accommodation for individuals who are applicants. I am pleased to say that the State has been increasing the amount of accommodation that is State-owned. When I took over responsibility here on 1 May 2025, we only had 900 spaces owned by the State. We now have 4,000. I want to get to a situation where we have 14,000. A large part of that is going to be achieved through the State buying units, which we can then use for the State for the purpose of accommodation. If the State is required because of the high numbers to contract with private contractors to provide accommodation to applicants, of course it is the case that we are going to have to buy it. Nobody is going to set up accommodation or fit out units and then just hand it over to the State. We have to buy it and I am pleased to say that significant savings have been made in the past number of months. Since 1 May, we have saved €80 million on contracts that have been renegotiated. That is a real saving and it is part of the reason the budget for IPAS is going down this year.
The amendment is not necessary. There is a lot of transparency in respect of IPAS already. People can go online and get information on who is getting the money for IPAS, provided they are receiving over €20,000.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25