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Dispersal across Direct Provision centres
The policy of dispersal of protection applicants to Direct Provision centres around the country has persisted with the transposition of the recast Reception Conditions Directive. Following the initial transposition of the Reception Conditions Regulations 2018, the previous practice continued, whereby protection applicants were first accommodated in Balseskin Reception Centre, where they usually spent several weeks, before being dispersed to one of the other accommodation centres, usually outside of Dublin.
However, an acute shortfall in available accommodation throughout 2022 resulted in the use of Citywest Convention Centre as the central processing and transit hub for both international protection applicants and beneficiaries of Temporary Protection. In July 2022, the State also began to use tented accommodation, in which applicants were accommodated in marquee-style structures at various locations around the country. In some cases, applicants were transferred directly to tented accommodation from Citywest, while in other cases, applicants were accommodated in tented accommodation following a period of homelessness. While initially intended as a temporary, many applicants spent months residing in wholly unsuitable accommodation which did not meet their basic needs and exposed them to at times to inclement weather conditions. This practice continued throughout 2023.[1]
The State also increasingly relied on the use of emergency centres, often comprised of disused offices, large conference rooms, schools, and sports halls in order to accommodate international protection applicants. The Irish Refugee Council has been alerted to numerous grievous risks to vulnerable residents accommodated in these centres, including to women and minor children. These reports included significant child protection issues and serious privacy concerns.
The Minister for Justice and Equality may exceptionally provide the material reception conditions in a manner that is different to that provided for in these Regulations where (a) an assessment of a recipient’s specific needs is required to be carried out, or (b) the accommodation capacity normally available is temporarily exhausted. However, it remains to be seen whether the use of such accommodation meets an applicant’s ‘basic needs’ as is required by Regulation 4(6) (b) the Reception Conditions Regulations 2018.[2]
As of June 2021, 1,360 protection applicants, 174 of whom were children, were housed in emergency accommodation.[3] As of January 2023, this figure had increased exponentially to 11,414 protection applicants..[4] As of February 2024, a total of 18,702 protection applicants, 3, 924 of whom were children, were accommodated in 216 emergency accommodation centres throughout the State.[5]
The amount spent on hotel and guest house beds in emergency locations from January to the end of November 2019 was € 27.14m.[6] The amount spent on emergency accommodation from January up to the end of December 2020 was € 59.7m paid to 32 providers.[7] The total expenditure on emergency accommodation for the years 2021 and 2022 was not available at the time of updating, however, according to figures released by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the total expenditure in respect of the Direct Provision system was €190,856,000 for 2021 and €356,554,000 for 2022.[8] Figures in respect of 2023 were not available at the time of updating.
The exact location of emergency accommodation is not publicly available in order to protect the identity of international protection applicants.[9] Some emergency accommodation centres have been in place for longer than five years.
Designation of an accommodation centre
In designating an accommodation centre for recipients of reception conditions, the Reception Conditions Regulations provide that a number of factors will be taken into account: (a) maintaining family unity; (b) gender and age-specific concerns; (c) the public interest; (d) public order; (e) the efficient processing and effective monitoring of the recipient’s application for international protection.[10]
The special reception needs of an asylum seeker, identified following a vulnerability assessment, shall also be taken into account in designating an accommodation centre. However, in the experience of the Irish Refugee Council, such vulnerabilities are, in practice, rarely considered in the allocation of accommodation.[11]
The Regulations provide that where a recipient is a minor, the need to accommodate the minor together with parents, unmarried siblings, or an adult acting in loco parentis will be considered, subject to consideration of the best interests of the minor in question. A further factor to be considered for minor recipients is whether the proposed accommodation centre is suitable to meet their needs.[12]
No definition of “the public interest” or “public order” is provided in the Regulations, making it difficult to determine how those factors may be adjudged in designating an accommodation centre.
An applicant does not have a choice regarding where they are sent. In practice, due to the ongoing shortage of spaces in the Direct Provision estate, requests for transfers to other accommodation centres were not granted throughout 2023, except in exceptional circumstances; typically, where a significant medical vulnerability is identified. However, an applicant may be moved to a different accommodation centre where the Minister considers it necessary. Subsequently, in January 2024, IPAS introduced a Protocol for Medical Transfer Requests. The Protocol applies whereby an applicant is in hospital and following discharge, is required to attend frequent ongoing appointments at the hospital and needs to live within reasonable travelling distance or whereby placement in alternative accommodation is essential in supporting the international protection applicant in accessing specialist treatment. The Protocol requires that an applicant seeking transfer on medical grounds submit a letter from a consultant doctor at an Irish hospital which outlines the nature of the individual’s condition, as well as a recommendation that indicates that the transfer request is essential for the person’s health status. The letter should also address how their current accommodation is impeding their physical and/or mental health.[13] Whereby such a letter is supplied, IPAS will then forward medical documentation to an ‘Independent Medical Referee’, usually a GP contracted by IPAS, who will make a recommendation regarding the transfer. IPAS will then issue a final decision regarding the transfer, and this will depend on the availability of appropriate accommodation.[14]
In 2019, the Ombudsman, in his report on Direct Provision stated: “I have not accepted refusal of transfer requests from people who wish to avail of educational opportunities that are not available from their assigned centre. In my view denying someone the opportunity to better themselves by availing of a place on a further education course is unreasonable.”[15] However, throughout 2023, in the experience of the Irish Refugee Council Information and Advocacy Service, applicants who sought transfers from IPAS in order to avail themselves of educational opportunities were denied on the basis of lack of capacity within the accommodation system.[16]
IPAS may reallocate a room if it is left unused for any period of time without letting the centre manager know in advance, or if a resident is consistently absent from the centre. An absence occurring over three consecutive nights should lead to a warning letter from centre management that the applicant may lose their accommodation. In the current accommodation crisis and with the continuing lack of capacity in Direct Provision (see Types of Accommodation), this places applicants at an immediate risk of homelessness. In practice, applicant’s beds are often re-assigned without their knowledge following a period of absences from their designated accommodation. The Irish Refugee Council is aware of numerous cases whereby applicants have returned to their accommodation to find their bed re-assigned following a period of unexplained absence. This occurs in circumstances whereby no warning letter was provided to the applicant in advance of the accommodation being re-assigned. In such cases, applicants often find themselves street homeless until such time as a further offer of accommodation is made by IPAS.[17]
Paragraph 2.15 of the House Rules and Procedures state that the accommodation centre manager is obliged to notify the Community Welfare Office, now known as a Department of Social Protection representative, the official who grants the asylum seeker their weekly allowance, that they have been away without telling management and that this may affect access to the Direct Provision Allowance.[18] The extent to which this occurs in practice varies considerably.[19]
In August 2021, the House Rules were revised in light of the introduction of the Reception Conditions Regulations.[20] The Regulations specifically define House Rules as “rules made by the Minister under Regulation 25”. Regulation 25 empowers the Minister to make rules to be complied with by persons who are being accommodated in an accommodation centre or reception centre. Such rules may relate to the operation of the centre and the conduct of residents. Regulation 25(4) further states that the Minister shall make the house rules accessible in a variety of languages on the website of IPAS.
Restrictions on freedom of movement
Freedom of movement is not expressly restricted in law, but the IPAS house rules require residents to seek permission if they are going to be away from their accommodation overnight.[21]
In practice, freedom of movement is restricted due to the very low level of financial support given to protection applicants, which means that, unless transport to and from a centre is free and at a suitable time, it is often too costly to travel. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has described the conditions in some Direct Provision as amounting to deprivation of liberty due to the extent of those restrictions.[22] The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has also argued that the conditions attached to Direct Provision accommodation amounts to de facto detention under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.[23] The same argument was made by The Global Detention Project in its submission to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in preparation for its visit to Ireland.[24]
Asylum seekers were subject to the same public health restrictions as Irish nationals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, for example the right to exercise within a 5km radius of their accommodation and travel for essential purposes, for instance medical appointments, food and other necessities as established in Government Guidelines. However, particular issues of concern emerged at accommodation centres where outbreaks of coronavirus occurred. Residents reported that they were not permitted to leave their accommodation or were given a strong impression that they could not leave and were required to spend all day in their rooms, even in circumstances where they had tested negative for COVID-19. Moreover, all non-essential visits and activities, including transfers between centres, were cancelled to curb the spread of the virus. Additionally, a two-week quarantine period was imposed for individuals who had left and subsequently returned to their accommodation.
[1] ibid.
[2] SI No 230/2018 European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018, Regulation 4(6)(b).
[3] Irish Times, Department to close 24 accommodation centres for asylum seekers, 8 June 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3sFwSmA.
[4] IPAS, DCEDIY IPAS – Weekly Stats, 29 January 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3y42E372.
[5] IPAS, ‘DCEDIY IPAS – Weekly Accommodation and Arrival Statistics’, 4 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/ycyu37a3.
[6] Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, David Stanton, Reply to Parliamentary Question No 271, 10 December 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2RG2xAi.
[7] Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman, Response to Parliamentary question nos 469, 470, 2 February 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/37rcwlD.
[8] Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman, Response to Parliamentary question no 977, 18 January 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3jpKMal.
[9] Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, David Stanton, Reply to Parliamentary Question No 290, 5 November 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/38yWswf.
[10] Regulation 7(2) Reception Conditions Regulations 2018.
[11] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council’s Information and Advocacy Service, January 2023.
[12] Regulation 7(3) Reception Conditions Regulations 2018.
[13] International Protection Accommodation Service, ‘Protocol for Medical Transfer Requests’, January 2024, available at: https://bit.ly/3w07FHw.
[14] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council Information and Advocacy Service, January 2024.
[15] Ombudsman, The Ombudsman & Direct Provision: Update for 2019, April 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2Xku2Dr.
[16] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council’s Information and Advocacy Service, January 2024.
[17] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council information and Advocacy Service, January 2024.
[18] IPAS, House Rules and Procedures, available at: http://bit.ly/1eiZdFd.
[19] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council information and Advocacy Service, January 2024.
[20] International Protection Accommodation Service, House Rules and Procedures, August 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3X1hT29.
[21] ibid.
[22] Human Rights and Equality Commission, Ireland and the OPCAT, September 2017, available at: http://bit.ly/2fEh5h6, 32.
[23] Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ‘Ratify OPCAT and allow inspection of direct provision centres: ICCL’, 26 June 2018, available at: https://bit.ly/2RLtN3k.
[24] Global Detention Project, Submission to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT): Ireland’, 25 September 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/368sFum.