Up to 1,000 asylum-seekers will be housed in mobile homes in three sites outside Dublin, which will be ready next month.
Asylum-seekers sent to the sites in Kildare, Tralee and Athlone will have meals and other services provided under the direct provision system, with "comfort money" payments of £15 per week per adult and £7.50 per child.
Up to 200 mobile homes will be placed on the State-owned sites, each of which has a large central building housing a dining room, a recreational area, mother-and-child rooms, interview rooms and management offices.
The mobile homes are geared to cater for the Government's anticipated need of 8,000 places for asylum-seekers this year. The places are to be provided in short-to-medium term accommodation, including prefabricated buildings, hostels and guesthouses.
An official from the Office of Public Works (OPW), which is preparing the mobile home sites, said they would be finished in three to four weeks. Asylum-seekers are then likely to be dispersed to the sites on a phased basis. The Kildare site, which can hold up to 100 mobile homes, is attached to Magee Barracks, close to another cluster of mobile homes currently occupied by about 300 Kosovan refugees. It is understood that the directorate has agreed to limit the number of asylum-seekers sent to the barracks until the Kosovars have been repatriated.
The site in Tralee, Co Kerry, is in Ballymullen Barracks and can hold up to 50 mobile homes. The site in Athlone, Co Westmeath, is beside land owned by the Department of Education and can take up to 100 mobile homes.
The OPW is currently sourcing sites to locate temporary prefabricated housing for an additional 4,000 asylum-seekers. Construction of prefabricated or "system-built" homes on State-owned sites is due to start soon.
In addition, about 100 privately owned sites of 1.5 acres or more have been offered to the directorate in response to recent media advertising for lands to locate the prefabricated housing. These are currently being assessed.
The Government plans to house an additional 2,000 asylum-seekers in hotels, guest houses and hostels. The use of the controversial so-called "flotels" for a further 1,000 asylum-seekers has not been formally dropped, despite strong objections from port authorities.