The Government has signalled a significant crackdown on illegal immigration this year, promising to reduce the number of IPAS centres and ratchet up the number of chartered deportation flights.
Writing in today’s Irish Mail on Sunday, Migration Minister Colm Brophy said he and Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan will ‘reduce rather than increase the number of IPAS centres this year’.
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he → signal → centres
Figures reported in this newspaper confirmed private companies with lucrative State contracts to provide accommodation to asylum seekers received over €317million between April and June this year alone – an increase of €17million on the previous quarter despite promises to rein in spending.
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companies → report → spending
Annual expenditure on asylum rocketed to €1.27billion last year, an almost seven-fold increase on the €191million recorded in 2021.
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expenditure → rocket → 2021
During this period, the number of emergency accommodation centres rose from just 25 in December 2021 to 259 in January this year.
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number → rise → January
At its peak last year, there were a total of 33,000 asylum seekers in 313 State-owned and commercial accommodation centres who stayed an average of 24.3 months.
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who → be → months
Immigration became a major issue in the last general election amid accusations the previous Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael led government was adopting an ‘open doors’ border policy.
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government → become → policy
Mr Brophy acknowledged the criticisms this weekend but insisted the current Coalition is overseeing a ‘firm, fair and effective asylum system’.
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Coalition → acknowledge → system
In this month’s Budget, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration announced there will be a significant €682million reduction in the cost of housing asylum seekers and Ukrainian war refugees this year.
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Department → announce → seekers
Mr Brophy said just over a quarter (€252million) of these savings are due to ‘a significant programme of reform which has supported the development of a more sustainable cost-effective IPAS system’.
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which → say → system
And he confirmed plans for new legislation to ensure asylum seekers who obtain employment while living in IPAS centres will pay rent to offset accommodation costs.
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who → confirm → costs
One Government source noted: ‘Nothing generates anti-migration sentiment more than scenarios such as this where it appears asylum seekers are treated better by the State than Irish workers on the same factory line.’
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seekers → note → line
Mr Brophy also said there will be ‘increased expenditure on flights returning illegal asylum seekers’ on chartered deportation flights this year.
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Brophy → say → flights
The Fine Gael TD told the MoS: ‘The Budget contains a €2million, or 27 per cent, increase in funding for immigration and international protection programmes, including the removal of people who do not have a right to reside in the State.’
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who → tell → State
Mr Brophy acknowledged the EU – ‘working collectively’ – has played a key role in bringing illegal immigration ‘under control’.
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EU → acknowledge → control
He noted the EU Migration Pact, signed in June, ‘has resulted in a reduction of the average number of applicants a day to 32 per day, down from 53’.
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Pact → note → 53
The EU Migration Pact replaced the International Protection Act 2015 with a new legal framework aimed at streamlining border screening and asylum processing.
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Pact → replace → screening
The minister said the department was making progress in speeding up the asylum application process.
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department → say → process
He told the MoS: ‘The department is currently on track to meet the standardised processing times for decisions.
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department → tell → decisions
The Dublin South-West TD said the reduced funding requirement of €430million to provide accommodation for Ukrainian refugees was down to ‘targeted policy measures to enable the department to lead on the design and delivery of exit pathways’.
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department → say → pathways
Members of the Public Order Unit pictured in Tallaght this evening near Citywest Hotel and IPAS Centre
Under the new ‘pathway’, Ukrainians can only remain in the country if they are not living in State-supported accommodation.
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they → picture → accommodation
Despite criticism of the move, the minister stressed that this was ‘in line with EU developments, which ensures Ireland continues to meet its humanitarian obligations in the area of temporary protection’.
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Ireland → stress → protection
The cost of Ukrainian accommodation has fallen from €1.16billion in 2024 to €606million this year.
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cost → fall → 606million
It is expected this figure cost will fall significantly further to just €177million in 2027.
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cost → expect → 2027
Mr Brophy added: ‘€10million is being provided for the Tribunal for Asylum and Appeals, as well as a 46 per cent increase, to €800,000, in the funding for the Independent Human Rights Monitoring Mechanism.
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10million → add → Mechanism
Considerable planning and preparation is being put into implementation, including the development and resourcing of new processes and procedures.
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planning → put → processes
The public wants to see clarity and consistency in our migration system, and that is what they will get.
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