More than a thousand people in Ipas centres have been told to leave by early July as they are \u201cno longer entitled\u201d to live there, prompting fears of a surge in demand for homelessness accommodation. <\/p>\n
The International Protection Accommodation Service<\/a> (Ipas), which is housing more than 30,000 people, issued letters in March to residents, including 473 families, who have been recognised as refugees or granted the right to remain in the State, telling to leave by the summer. <\/p>\n The letters, also sent to \u201capproximately 700\u2033 single adults, were issued despite senior Department of Housing<\/a> officials warning the Department of Justice<\/a> of their serious concerns about a \u201crisk of homelessness among those who will receive the letter\u201d. <\/p>\n The letters are described as \u201csimilar\u201d to those sent to more than 1,000 households living in Ipas centres last year. <\/p>\n The letters sent last year told 594 families and 590 single adults that, as they had legal status for at least a year in the case of families, or at least six months in single adults\u2019 cases, they should \u201cmake necessary arrangements\u201d to leave their <\/a> accommodation<\/a> by July 4th, 2025.<\/p>\n If they could not source accommodation independently they would be offered \u201cemergency Ipas accommodation\u201d but not in their current location, the letter stated.<\/p>\n Hundreds of people presented directly to homelessness services, particularly in Dublin, leading to warnings that children could end up sleeping rough as local authorities struggled to meet demand. <\/p>\n More than half the single adults were told to leave Ipas centres in Dublin, with a fifth of the families in centres in the capital. <\/p>\n Mary Hayes, director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive<\/a>, last month told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee that more than 1,300 people who had left direct provision sought emergency accommodation<\/a> in Dublin over the last two years. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Ipas head questions claims large numbers are going from direct provision to homelessnessOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Presentations from direct provision<\/a> were the \u201csingle biggest driver\u201d of new homelessness among single adults, she said.<\/p>\n Correspondence released under Freedom of Information legislation underlines serious concerns at the Department of Housing about a repeat of last year\u2019s scenes in the coming months. <\/p>\n On January 7th, in an email titled \u201cDirect Provision Exits in 2026\u201d, a senior housing official contacted a counterpart in the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are keen to ascertain if IPAS intends issuing letters to people with status who are required to exit IPAS accommodation in 2026, as happened in March 2025. If the answer is yes, could you please let us know the intended timeline for issuing those letters?\u201d they asked. <\/p>\n The justice official responded on January 14th, writing: \u201cYes, we intend to write to families with status over one year in the coming weeks notifying of transfer in the summer of 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n On January 20th, Rosemarie Tobin, principal officer in charge of homelessness policy at the Department of Housing, asked for more details. \u201cWe are considering what extra steps can be taken to reduce the risk of homelessness among those who will receive the letter,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Five pregnant women forced to sleep rough among those who gave birth at NMH in 2025Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n