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FOLLOWING LAST MONTH’S letter from Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman to all ministers renewing his call for urgent help in finding vacant buildings to house refugees, a number of departments say they have reached out to bodies and are reviewing their property stock.
O’Gorman asked for sports centres, conference facilities, arts centres, student leisure centres and any other large buildings that are “deemed safe” to house refugees.
“What is needed are large halls where camp beds, mattresses, sleeping bags could be set out for people,” O’Gorman said in the letter to all ministers.
While departments are understood to be in the process of reaching out to bodies within their sectors to find out if more accommodation is available, it is understood that no new buildings have been immediately made available following the call out.
It is understood that there is growing frustration within O’Gorman’s department over the pace of progress in both identifying and making available properties.
Sources state that the process takes time, but they are hopeful that some additional capacity can be found.
However, they added that the common catchphrase that a ‘whole of Government approach’ is needed cannot just be a soundbite and must actually result in action in finding further premises.
It remains the case that there is no further capacity within contracted accommodation such as hotels and the Citywest complex which remains closed to new entrants.
Government sources said that O’Gorman’s plea for urgent help could be “difficult to meet” as buildings that have been identified already by some departments are either not appropriate or not available.
TheJournal contacted all Government departments when the letter was issued, asking how many buildings, to date, each has provided for the housing of refugees since the onset of the crisis.
Departments were also asked if a renewed effort would be made following the minister’s letter to find large vacant buildings that could be used.
While a number of departments did not respond, a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications said that following the initial call from O’Gorman, where he made an appeal for assistance from departments in December, Minister Eamon Ryan wrote to all bodies under his aegis requesting their assistance with the identification of suitable properties.
They said many bodies “were quick to respond and a number of premises were offered”.
Officials engaged with the Department of the Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) regarding their suitability, said the statement.
However, none were deemed immediately useful due to a variety of factors, including insufficient space or current functionality, and associated tenancy and planning considerations, they said.
“Officials remain in contact with DCEDIY and with agencies to determine the extent to which these challenges might be surmountable,” said the spokesperson.
The Department of Transport said in its response that it conducts its business from a number of locations around the country in buildings that are owned / leased, or managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW).
The department said it had planned, in consultation with the OPW, to relocate from their existing building in Shannon to a new office and warehouse facility which had been purchased by the OPW.
“Given the acute refugee housing needs, and our commitment to supporting the broader Government efforts to address the accommodation crisis, we offered, through OPW, to make the new office building available to DCEDIY.
“We understand that the OPW and DCEDIY are progressing with plans in this regard,” said a spokesperson.
They added that the department’s own properties consist of Coast Guard buildings which are generally small in nature, and are required for the conduct of Irish Coast Guard facilities so do not fit the description of accommodation being sought for the housing of refugees.
The Department of Housing said that given that many of the buildings put forward to them are privately owned, it would be inappropriate to publish the details of individual buildings.
However, it said the refurbishment programme was set up in 2022 as part of the wider humanitarian response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Local authorities were asked to identify vacant multi-occupancy properties within their areas that had the potential to be used for accommodation for those arriving from Ukraine.
A significant numbers of potential projects were notified to the housing department.
“Some bed spaces could be brought into use immediately or were already earmarked by International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS). These were passed directly to the DCEDIY for follow up.
“Indeed, 121 buildings were identified initially which required little or no refurbishment work and were passed to DCEDIY in such a manner (with a capacity of over 5,000 spaces).”
The housing spokesperson said the department retained the more complex projects for progression as part of the medium-long term accommodation solution.
These projects involve significant levels of renovation in order to be habitable.
Of those premises requiring significant refurbishment under the programme, there are currently 61 projects being progressed with expected capacity for approximately 2,700 people once delivered.
Of these, there are procurement or works underway on 23 projects, with a further 38 projects at a survey/survey review stage.
The scheme whereby members of the public offer house refugees in vacant properties they own has been roundly criticised by many for not being administered properly, with many reporting not getting call backs about their offers.
However, the department said thousands had offered up properties, but failed to disclose how many had been taken up.
“Local Authorities are also administering the Offer a Home Scheme and to date some property offers of 1,260 have been made,” said the spokesperson.
The spokesperson went on to state that the housing and local government divisions are updated a number of times a week by the Integration Department about the accommodation situation.
“Local authorities have taken a number of direct actions to support the Government’s response, including standing up rest centres. The Department of Housing does not have any property available as its office accommodation is provided through OPW,” said the spokesperson.
There have been recent reports that considerations were being given to house refugees in school buildings over the summer months, however, it is believed that Education Minister Norma Foley does not have the power to compel school boards to do so.
The Department of Education said in a statement to TheJournal that “it should be noted that only a small percentage of school properties are owned directly by the State – those under the auspices of education and training boards. One vacant property has been made available for longer term accommodation purposes to date”.
It stated that the department has worked with the DCEDIY and relevant stakeholders to facilitate the provision of emergency accommodation in a small number of schools during school holidays.
“The department will continue to work closely with all parties in this context. It must be noted that the pressures on school capacity are significant, taking account of normal demographics, provision for children with special educational needs and also for migrant children and young people, including those from Ukraine,” concluded the statement.
The Justice Department said that it previously reviewed its full portfolio of buildings, many of which are owned or leased by the OPW, and provided details of unoccupied buildings to the Department of Housing and and the OPW in response to previous requests for accommodation for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
In response to previous requests both for Ukraine and Housing for All, the department said it also flagged that a significant portion of the Thornton site in North County Dublin could be made available if deemed suitable for the accommodation needs by the responsible bodies.
“While there are no vacant or derelict buildings owned by the Department of Justice which appear to come within the scope of the most recent request, the department is keeping its estate under review and if anything is identified it will be discussed with DCEDIY,” said a department spokesperson.
The Department of Health said it has also consulted with the DCEDIY over the course of 2022 in relation to the sourcing of properties which may be suitable for use in providing accommodation for refugees.
As part of this engagement, the Department of Health said it provided a comprehensive overview of those properties currently owned by the HSE and surplus to health service requirements which may be suitable for the provision of accommodation.
Some 300 properties were identified in the overview and details of these properties were provided to DCEDIY in 2022.
In addition to the list of properties, the HSE have also seconded a key member of their estate accommodation team to the Interdepartmental Ukrainian Refugee Accommodation response, said a spokesperson.
The Department of Social Protection said the only building owned by the department is Aras Mhic Dhiarmada, the department’s headquarters building, adding that other offices, including Intreo Centres, are owned or leased by the OPW.
The Department of Business and Enterprise said the Companies Registration Office, the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland, the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission, are tenants in ten buildings across Dublin, Carlow, Cork, Kilkenny, Ennis and Sligo.
The Department of Rural Development said it does not own any vacant buildings which could be used to house Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection or International Protection applicants.
All other departments failed to respond to requests.
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France. Always have been. Always will be.
@Vonvonic: seriously?
@Thomas O’ Donnell: I would agree with Vonvonic. The alliance goes back to Norman-Ireland. A lot of the Normans that settled in Ireland would have classed themselves as more French than English.
@Vonvonic: I would agree you only have to look at the Wolfe Tone connection
@Patrick Corr: it was at Fontenoy that the cry was heard, while charging at the British in the decisive rout by the Irish Brigade, Remember Limerick and Saxon Perfidy.
@Vonvonic: Bien sûr mon ami!
It has to be said that Irelands department of foreign affairs have done a great job over the past few years with the UN Security Council, the observer statuses, etc., but the reality is Ireland has lost our biggest ally in the EU now that the UK has gone and there are a few countries who have their eyes on several of Irelands laws and policies that they will target and not for Irelands benefit. The commenters on this site are 90% anti UK, and definitely anti everything the government does, so it’s not the best comment section to get a decent POV but it would be good to see if Irish people, in general, are aware of where we stand in the EU today
@Local Ore: The article addresses this, we build alliances on a policy basis rather than being wedded to any particular one on all things. This is a highly beneficial approach that creates political capital. The divergence of Ireland and the UK within the EU has been going on so long that when it they did leave, it impacted us far less than many expected. We are well able to plough our own furrow and protect our own interests, while keeping a pragmatic and flexible position in a fast changing world. We are also now the only EU member State with english as a first language. If we weren’t doing so well already, I’d go so far as to say that the UK’s act of self-isolation will be the making of Ireland.
@Eoin Roche: Ireland’s economic success is completely due to FDI. It was 288% of GDP in 2019. The UK accounts for far more of FDI than any EU country. In terms of exports, The US and The UK account for 41% of Irelands exports, France accounts for 4%… I mention this because France competes with Ireland far, far more than people think and they intend to target Irelands FDI, I have members of my team supporting French Public Sector bodies right now reviewing EU policies on how to target the €1Trn FDI Ireland gets. Think of the size of France, we import about €13bn from them, they import about €5bn from us. France and Germany plan to strengthen their ties and “leadership” (control) of the EU over the coming years, this isn’t to support “the making of Ireland”, it’s to grow themselves
@Eoin Roche: Dublin is now an outlier in an EU where reliance on foreign multinationals will no longer be ignored. These companies now account for 32 percent of all jobs in Ireland and 49 percent of employment taxes. 75 percent of recent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Ireland either comes from the U.S. (58 percent) or the U.K. (17 percent). By contrast, just 5 percent comes from Germany. Dublins Economic Model is the talking point of EU policymakers, as I mentioned, and we are already seeing it – harmonised corporation tax. Next will be FDI policy and they are already drawing it up to try to “harmonise” it toward other EU countries.
@Eoin Roche: Correction: Malta has English as a first language.
@Nick Caffrey: Correction: Maltese is the 1st language in Malta, English is 2nd and also an official language
@Local Ore: You are failing to differentiate between US FDI and UK FDI. The US is by far more important than the UK to us, no comparison. Why do you conflate two wildly different countries/economies?
@Leo Sharkey: I’m not conflating them in any way, I’m pointing out that Irelands largest investment, and trade, comes from outside the EU and was heavily protected by the UK supporting Ireland on policy and vice-versa. I’ve seen people on this site say France and Germany are major allies/supporters of Ireland and I wonder if it’s total lack of knowledge, deliberate ignorance or just the anti-UK sentiment of most of the commenters. Only in Ireland do people think Ireland is better off in the EU without the UK… it goes against all logic and facts. The EU is a body of consultation and common action between states, underpinned by legal and institutional arrangements. These arrangements are evolving in response to needs as they arise and France and Germany’s needs to do not align to Irelands.
France and Germany have supported us throughout the whole Brexit process and NI protocol . If they wavered in their support for us, the British would sense an opportunity and end up causing trouble in Northern Ireland.
We are more aligned with our Nordic blood brothers and france than any of the other countries in europe.
It is worth recalling that the old British policy of DIVIDE AND CONQUER failed when they attempted to disunite the EU approach to recent events.
It’s a right tough one, not Portugal or Spain because of the amount that go there on holiday, they know what we are like when let out. Not the French as they’ve always tried to help us but end up making a balls out of it and then think it’s our fault. Not Poland, they know what we’re like too from half of them being here at one stage. It wont be the Italians either as the blue shirts have given Mussolini’s black shirts a bad name! I’ll run out of characters soon so I’m sure others can fill in the blanks, who haven’t we pissed off?
@This time its personable!: Did you read the article? The Scandinavian and Benelux countries are our natural allies in Europe.
@JustMeHere: I did boy, I didn’t include them there I was pointing out the additional reasons why the others aren’t too for caring about us!
I would argue that Angela Merkel and Germany have been our quiet allies for 20 years, France, the Baltic, and Benelux states, but generally speaking we have good relationships with all our EU colleagues.
@Leo Sharkey: I literally work in this area of the public sector and can tell by this comment that you most definitely do not. France has been attacking Irelands tax and FDI for my entire career, the “Dublin Economy” drives them mad in Brussels. The Netherlands directly competes, and wins, in financial services with Ireland. Ireland has a deregulated, highly flexible global economy that lacks the comprehensive social protections of continental counterparts such as the Netherlands or Denmark, the model stands in stark contrast to the centralism unleashed from the Elysée. The countries you mention are highly focused on corporate and digital taxation, data protection and the further centralization of the eurozone – all massively damaging and contrasting to the Irish model.
Henry 8th’s break was the same mentality as Brexit. A difference is that Boris will not be confiscating assets of Europeans and calling it a reformation.
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