More than 400 families in direct provision centres have received notices to leave their accommodation this month. This is despite pleas from the largest statutory homelessness provider that these letters should stop, following fears children could end up sleeping rough.
The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) has warned a surge in households leaving direct provision accommodation, having received letters from the International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas) that they are no longer entitled to IPAS accommodation, was having a “very serious impact” on capacity in the capital.
Asylum applicants who are recognised as refugees or as having leave to remain have the same housing rights as Irish residents and their accommodation is no longer Ipas’s responsibility.
Single adults generally have six months to source their own accommodation, with families allowed 12 months.
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In a letter to the Department of Housing in December, DRHE director Mary Hayes said her team was struggling to source enough emergency accommodation to meet spiralling demand and “the picture is stark for family homelessness” in 2026.
She appealed to officials in the department to begin “meaningful engagement” with counterparts in the Department of Justice on the issue.
“Moving families from one State institution to another is disruptive and places a strain on homeless services in Dublin,” she said.
“It is fully accepted these are households with legal residence in the country and in many cases eligible for social housing. However, we are asking that no letters [are] issued to families in DP in 2026,” said Hayes.
“I cannot emphasise enough the consequences of overloading already stretched services,” she said. “I am deeply concerned that we will have on-street family homelessness in 2026.”
Echoing her, David Carroll, chief executive with Depaul – which along with the Peter McVerry Trust provides in-reach support to households seeking to find homes in the private rented sector – said: “There should be a pause on the letters so we can take a breath, take a step back and see how best to support families find housing, and what the overall stock is in emergency accommodation.”
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said on Friday however: “It is not sustainable for the system to continue accommodating individuals indefinitely who have already been granted status while new applicants are arriving who require accommodation under the State’s legal obligations.”
Of the 33,000 people in Ipas accommodation, about 5,000 have legal status to remain, while about 1,000 people a month apply for asylum.
“Ipas must prioritise accommodation for international protection applicants who are entitled to accommodation under the Reception Conditions Regulations,” said the spokesman.
The position for single male asylum applicants remains especially difficult, with men sleeping rough nightly, according to charities working with this sector.
The department said so far in March Ipas sent notices to 475 families “letting them know that Ipas accommodation is no longer available to them from early July”.
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“Families unable to source private housing will be offered alternative emergency Ipas accommodation, where available. By the time the moves begin in July, the families being moved will have had their status to remain for 12 months or more.”
The DRHE’s latest figures, for January, show although 98 families entered homelessness for the first time, just 39 exited into tenancies.
A Department of Housing note in January said housing support workers faced significantly increased workloads in Ipas centres. “NGO staff are under serious pressure at present,” it said.
A spokesman for the Department of Housing said Minister James Browne had written to the Minister for Justice asking that Ipas provide advance information about households with status due to be asked to leave their accommodation, and that families “be given sufficient time to identify secure tenancies”.
