The State is to purchase the Citywest Hotel in Dublin for more than €148 million with the intention of making it a permanent processing centre for International Protection applicants.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said he received approval at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting for the move, which forms part of a plan to provide 14,000 State-owned beds for asylum seekers by 2028 rather than relying on private providers.
The 764-bed hotel and conference centre has been leased by the State since 2020. It was initially used as a Covid-19 testing and vaccination centre before, in 2022, being converted to an accommodation and processing facility for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees.
The State has agreed to purchase the hotel and its conference centre for €148.2 million, a price Mr O’Callaghan said represents value for money for the State.
“Over a period of four years, we believe we’ll be in the position where we will have got our money back in terms of the investment,” he said.
Over 25 years, the State will save about €1.25 billion, he added. “It will be far cheaper in the long-term.”
Separately on Tuesday, it emerged the company which runs the hotel received more than €18 million from the State in the first three months of the year to provide accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees from Ukraine.
Cape Wrath Hotel Unlimited, a key provider in the State’s international protection accommodation system, also received more than €70 million last year.
Figures on payments made through Department of Integration payment orders for more than €20,000 in the first three months of the year show the company received in excess of €18.5 million from the State.
Minister of State for migration Colm Brophy TD insisted there were no plans to expand the capacity of the hotel to handle the growing number of asylum seekers entering the State. It currently has capacity for 2,300 people.
The Government said it is in talks to ensure the attached leisure centre, which has 3,000 members, remains open to the local community.
There has been some local anger in response to the Government’s plans to purchase the hotel. Earlier this month, protesters gathered outside Leinster House to demonstrate against the plans which they said will mean the hotel never returns to community use.
“Very importantly, the purchase of Citywest will not result in any immediate increase in numbers,” said Mr Brophy in Tuesday.
He said the plan is to “develop the asset” into a state-of-the-art processing facility “whereby people’s applications can be cleared within 13 weeks from when they arrive in the country”.
He promised “full engagement” with the community to ensure they are aware of what is happening to the hotel. There has been “excellent engagement” with the community to date, and this will continue, he added.
“Our community engagement team is ready to begin working closely with local community leaders, community groups and stakeholders.”
Meanwhile, Mosney Holidays, which provides accommodation for between 500-600 international protection applicants and refugees supported by the Irish Refugee Protection Programme at a former holiday resort in Co Meath, received about €10 million from the State in the first three months of the year, according to the newly published figures.
Travelodge, the hotel group (Smorgs ROI Management Limited), received about €8 million. Holiday Inn Dublin Airport (Skyline View Limited) also received more €8 million in the first quarter.
