State spend on accommodating international protection applicants and Ukrainians plunges by €104m

Gordon Deegan

The State spend on commercial providers accommodating international protection (IP) applicants and Ukrainians for the first quarter of this year has plunged by €104 million when compared to the same period last year.

New figures published by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration show that the costs of accommodating IP applicants and Ukrainians has cost the State more than €3.3m per day between January 1st and March 31st this year.

However the combined €300m spend for the first three months is down €104m on the combined €404.23m spent during the corresponding period for 2025 - a drop of 26pc.

The figures show that the biggest drop concerns the commercial accommodation bill for accommodating Ukrainians which has more than halved year on year.

The figures show that the accommodation bill by commercial providers for Ukrainians for the first quarter was €61.42m - a drop of 54pc or €73.32m on the €131.74m spent during the same period last year.

The accommodation by commercial providers for IP applicants for the first three months of this year cost €239.12m - a drop of 11pc or €30.37m on the €269.49m in the same period for last year.

The sharp drop in accommodation costs for Ukrainians follows new Government policy brought into force last November that new arrivals from Ukraine are accommodated in Designated Accommodation Centres (DACs) for a maximum of 30 days under the time-bound policy.

Earlier this week, the Cabinet agreed that most of the 16,000 Ukrainians living in State-contracted commercial accommodation will be required to find alternative homes by March 2027

The measures are to be introduced on a phased basis from August while vulnerable individuals who wish to remain in State-contracted accommodation will be able to do so.

On the IP accommodation, the State is currently accommodating over 33,000 people who have applied for international protection, and over 9,000 of these are children.

Accommodation is provided in over 300 centres nationwide and the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has confirmed to Deputy Carol Nolan TD (Ind) in a written Dáil reply that currently there are 562 High Court judicial reviews being taken by IP applicants against decisions made by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT).

The new Dept Purchase Order figures show that a number of firms continue to generate millions each quarter from accommodating IP applicants.

Last August, the owners of Citywest hotel, Tetrarch Capital agreed to sell the hotel for €148m to the State.

However, the new figures show that Tetrarch firm, Cape Wrath UC continues to receive large payments from the State as part of a 12 month transitional contract with Cape Wrath UC where it continues to manage the Citywest property on behalf of the State.

For the first three months of this year, Cape Wrath UC received €11.16m for accommodating IP applicants.

Other firms to receive high amounts for accommodating IP applicants include Mosney UC which received €9.6m; Holiday Inn Dublin Airport Skyline View Ltd received €8.4m, the operator of the Moran Red Cow hotel, Guestford Ltd received €7.75m and AllPro Security Services Ltd which received €6.6m;

The figures also show that Bridgestock Care Ltd received €8.5m for accommodating IP applicants and Ukrainians.