Between 20 and 30 homeless asylum seekers are sleeping rough nightly in sometimes freezing temperatures in Dublin city, volunteers say, as figures show almost 3,500 beds in refugee accommodation centres lie empty.
Figures provided by the Department of Justice show at the end of last month there were 3,480 “beds available” in centres operated by the International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas). These included 2,430 “mixed-accommodation beds”, 600 “single-male beds”, and 450 “family-only beds”.
On Tuesday night about 25 recently-arrived male asylum seekers prepared to bed down by a waterway near Dublin city centre as temperatures fell to 2 degrees.
They had queued at a charity, to which they had been directed by staff at the International Protection Office, until about 10pm, when they were provided with flimsy tents and light sleeping bags.
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Volunteers provided thermal hats, scarves, gloves and, to some, warm jackets and then walked with the men to a secluded area they judged to be safe, and helped them set up camp.
The charity, which asked not to be identified, provides outreach workers who visit asylum-seeking men sleeping rough early the following morning to cross-check their identities and verify they have slept out overnight. They are then referred to Ipas for accommodation.
Generally, say volunteers, men are accommodated “after a night or two when they have proved they have absolutely nowhere else to go”.
After 11pm on Tuesday a discarded sleeping-bag on the ground near the encampment was glistening with frost, people’s breath could be seen in the freezing air and feet became sore with cold from standing still for any length of time.
About 15 tents were erected in a row by one group, and another group moved to a location farther up the waterway.
A young man from Pakistan, who said he was aged 25 but looked younger, was wearing jeans, a thin jacket and shirt, and runners. “It is very cold. It is freezing,” he said, shivering. “Ipas, they are doing their efforts, providing foods and taking care of us, but they are still not able to give the accommodation.
“We don’t have any option to sleep here on the side. It is terrible in such a freezing climate. It is so cold but we don’t have any other way.”
Abdinasia (33), a shopkeeper from Somalia, described the cold as “so harsh”. He said: “This country is welcoming and we also understand that the numbers they are accommodating is overwhelming so I hope the process will go quickly for us.”
Liam O’Dwyer, former secretary general of the Irish Red Cross (IRC) and now volunteering with the charity, said it was “simply a reality” that thousands of Ipas beds were vacant while men slept rough.
“It is counterproductive and a huge waste of resources – the handing out of tents and sleeping bags, most of which are then destroyed.
“There is a message the Government wants to give out that we are full but really it is an unsavoury way of dealing with this. People who come here need support.”
Figures
The Department of Justice figures, obtained by the IRC under the Freedom of Information Act, were initially refused but released on appeal. They show that on the night of October 24th Ipas centres had beds for 36,128 people while those accommodated numbered 32,648.
[ Non-Irish nationals ‘over-represented’ in homeless services, officials warnOpens in new window ]
IRC chief executive Nick Henderson said: “While it is good practice to retain surge capacity, domestic and international law requires that people are accommodated on arrival.
“The current policy, which requires male IPAs [international protection applicants] to sleep rough to demonstrate need for accommodation, is more dangerous than ever. People are at risk of harm from racist attacks and assault and severe weather.”
Asked if the department had a “policy” requiring asylum seekers to demonstrate they are homeless before accommodating them, a spokesman said: “Ipas can currently make offers of accommodation to any applicant who is rough-sleeping, identified through outreach that we organise seven days a week.”
The spokesman said until recently Ipas centres operated “at or near full capacity with significant negative impacts on services, residents, people applying for international protection, staff and communities”.
The “goal” was to have 15 per cent of beds available. “This model is similar to accommodation models in other countries ... At the moment, Ipas is not meeting this goal, with only 9 per cent of beds available for use.
“Single male applicants for international protection have been particularly affected by shortages ... This accommodation type is in shortest supply, with only 600 contingency beds available.
“At a point, due to shortages, over 3,500 people in this group were awaiting an offer of accommodation. Through an ongoing programme since March 2025, this has steadily reduced to 613 people awaiting an offer by October 2025. Ipas intends to keep working through this process, as capacity allows.”
The spokesman said despite a reduction in applications compared with 2024, there were still approximately more than 1,200 new asylum applications monthly, including by families.
