Statement on behalf of the Government of Ireland

The government has agreed a number of measures to respond to the growing number of people seeking protection in Ireland.

It has agreed beneficiaries of Temporary Protection in state-provided serviced accommodation should receive the same level of payment regardless of when they arrived.

The Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will liaise on the operational arrangements to give effect to this change, with an estimated 12 week lead-in time to allow details to be finalised and notice to be provided to the people affected.

The Minister for Social Protection and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will review entitlements of International Protection applicants and report back to Government within six weeks.

The Minister for Enterprise will increase targeted workplace inspections in sectors or firms where there is an increased risk or reports of non-compliance with the range of employment and workplace requirements and permit regulations.

The government also noted the Minister for Justice has doubled the number of staff, with a corresponding trebling of the number of decisions in the International Protection Office, with further increases planned. Since the introduction of accelerated processing by the Minister for Justice in November 2022, there has been a corresponding decrease of 50% in the number of applications from the designated countries.

The Minister for Justice is finalising the further review of safe countries and will report back to Government with an update. The Minister will also provide an update to Government on the outcome of a review of visa-free travel for all States from which there are significant numbers of international protection applicants.

The Minister for Justice will also revert to Government by the end of the month following the completion of a review of airline fines, which the Minister started earlier this year.

The government also agreed the use of State-owned locations for tented accommodation, in advance of the medium term strategy commencing.