State secures accommodation for 1,400 asylum seekers after hotel contracts end

The Government has secured accommodation for 1,400 asylum seekers and refugees after a number of hotel contracts ended.

The Department of Integration said they had now sourced alternative accommodation for those who are impacted by contracts with hotels ending this week.

Minister for Integration Roderic O'Gorman confirmed on Tuesday that 800 hotel rooms that were being used to accommodate asylum seekers and refugees would be lost.

However, officials told Newstalk radio on Thursday they had secured alternative accommodation for the 1,400 people impacted.

Meanwhile, the Department of Integration said another 1,200 asylum seekers will have to leave hotels by mid-April.

The department said it remains extremely challenging to find enough bed space for the number of refugees and international protection applicants who are continuing to arrive in Ireland on a weekly basis.

Ireland’s system for housing refugees is struggling to cope with the numbers arriving here, between refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and a significant rise in the number of international protection applicants from other counties.

People in the latter category are ending up homeless, with the number of international protection applicants who are without accommodation standing at 408 as of Monday evening.