Departments clash over refugees pushed from direct provision into homelessness

The most senior civil servant in the Department of Housing has clashed with his counterpart in the Department of Integration over the increasing numbers of asylum seekers being pushed from direct provision into homelessness.

Department of Housing secretary general Graham Doyle privately warned there was a “serious risk” that significant numbers of asylum seekers would be left sleeping rough after being ordered to leave direct provision having securing permission to remain in the State.

In a December 5th letter to Kevin McCarthy, Mr Doyle said he was concerned about a “new expectation” that responsibility to accommodate those with status to remain would shift to already under pressure homeless services.

Some 6,000 of the more than 26,000 people in the asylum system have been granted status to remain in the State, but have yet to leave direct provision, in part due to difficulties sourcing housing.

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In response, Mr McCarthy said the State was facing “unprecedented pressures” to accommodate asylum seekers and it was decided that anyone granted status to remain at least 18 months ago “may be transferred to alternative emergency accommodation” to free up space for incoming applicants.

He said those granted status were “free to avail of supports available to any Irish citizen” including emergency accommodation if they became homeless.

The correspondence between the secretaries general was released to The Irish Times following a Freedom of Information Act request.

[ Homeless asylum seekers: ‘It’s hard sleeping outside, it’s cold, it’s wet. It’s no life’ ]

The correspondence is the latest flashpoint between the two departments over housing for asylum seekers and refugees. Proposals to limit State-provided accommodation for future Ukrainian refugees to 90-days led to a heated row at Cabinet late last year due to concerns the change would shift responsibility on to homeless services.

Initial efforts to move asylum seekers on had been “carefully managed” to “avoid pressures on homeless services”, Mr Doyle said. However, he said he understood 75 letters a week were now being issued to people in direct provision informing them “that they must move on to alternative accommodation”.

Figures from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive show a fifth of the 145 single adults who became homeless in December had left direct provision, compared with 3 per cent in the same month in 2022.

In his December 8th response, Mr McCarthy said despite the “tireless efforts” of officials, there was a major shortage of accommodation, particularly for single males. The latest figures, issued last Friday, showed 834 asylum applicants were without accommodation.

Mr McCarthy told his counterpart the courts had deemed the failure to provide shelter to new asylum seekers as “unlawful”, leaving the State facing the “possibility of damages” from a number of legal cases.

The surge in the numbers seeking asylum over the last two years meant there would be a “natural increase” in those leaving direct provision down the line, he said. Between 3,000 and 4,000 people would likely be granted status to remain this year, he added.

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