Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has said that "very close" to 87.66% of people claiming international protection are crossing the border from Northern Ireland before claiming asylum here.
Speaking before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Migration, Mr O'Callaghan said: "They are coming from the United Kingdom, arriving into Northern Ireland and coming down claiming international protection in Ireland."
He said using the common travel area in this way is "unlawful".
Mr O'Callaghan said his UK counterpart had similar concerns about "people arriving into Dublin, going up to Belfast and going over to the UK that way".
"They are coming from the United Kingdom, arriving into Northern Ireland and coming down claiming international protection in Ireland," he said.
"If someone arrives into Dublin Airport or one of the ports and want to claim asylum, they would do it there and then."
He was responding to Independent senator Michael McDowell who had asked if former Minister Helen McEntee's claim last year that the number of asylum seekers crossing from Northern Ireland is "higher than 80%" still stands.
IPAS accommodation costs are 'unsustainable'
Mr O'Callaghan told the committee said the budget spent on accommodating international protection applicants is "unsustainable" and "must be brought down".
He said €1.2 billion was spent this year on accommodating international protection applicants, compared to just over €1bn last year.
He said just under 90% of all accommodation is commercially sourced.
"We need to move away from the emergency use of hotels to a more sustainable and cost-efficient state accommodation model," Mr O’Callaghan said.
He said his Department is looking at all the commercial contracts it has and "negotiating savings on contracts as we renew them".
He said its current focus is on developing state-owned accommodation from a range of sources and reducing reliance on commercial providers.
Mr O'Callaghan said it is not "feasible" for people who have been granted status to remain in Ireland to stay on in IPAS centres.
He said the Department of Justice is "not a landlord".
"It is important to get the message out that they have to move on," he said.
'Unprecedented' surge
Mr O’Callaghan said all of these moves will ensure that people spend less time in the international protection application process.
He said an "unprecedented" surge in applications since 2022 meant that this accommodation system had to grow "significantly under immense pressure" in a short period of time.
Over 45,000 people arrived and applied for international protection during 2022, 2023 and 2024, the minister said.
This almost matches the total number of applications made during the previous sixteen years.
"This coincided with the invasion of Ukraine when over 114,000 arrived in Ireland fleeing that conflict," said Mr O’Callaghan.
He said this surge put the State "in a very weak negotiation position due to the huge need and the limited supply".
"It had to accept almost every offer of accommodation that it received," he said.
Mr O’Callaghan said this market suited the accommodation providers and contract terms were agreed that would not be considered today.
He said the State was "desperate for accommodation" during this surge and "private accommodation providers were able to use the crisis to get higher prices for themselves".
'Regaining control of the system'
However, Mr O’Callaghan said his Department is "regaining control of the system" and "the processing of applications is getting faster".
In 2024, the International Protection Office delivered over 14,000 first instance decisions, compared to 8,500 in 2023, he said.
This year over 13,800 of these decisions have been made, according to the minister.
The International Appeals Protection Tribunal also closed around 3,100 appeals in 2024, compared to over 1,700 in 2023, he said.
Mr O’Callaghan said this year the tribunal has closed 4,100 appeals.
"My overall strategy for the International Protection process aimed at making more and faster decisions is working," he said.
Applications for asylum 'reduce by 40%'
Mr O’Callaghan said deportations are an "essential part of any immigration system".
He said more than double the number of deportation orders have been signed this year - 3,029, in comparison to the same period last year when 1,400 were signed.
"There is no point in having an asylum process to determine who is in need of international protection if at the end of the process - those people that were rejected are allowed to remain in the country," he said.
He said when he became minister, the number of unaccommodated international protection applicants stood at "well over 3,000".
"Today, that number is just over 600," he said.
Mr O’Callaghan said they have increased the number of state-owned beds to almost 4,000, with plans to increase this to 14,000.
He said 33,000 people are in IPAS accommodation, including 9,500 children.
However, "regrettably, over 5,000 people who have been granted status remain in IPAS".
Mr O’Callaghan said it is "intolerable" that "many" individuals in IPAS accommodation are "working but do not contribute to their accommodation costs".
He added it was important that the provision of accommodation is not "abused" in this manner. He said all offers of accommodation are now appraised by a team in his Department.
The factors it considers include the site, its value for money to the State and due diligence on the part of the provider on planning and regulatory matters.
Consideration is also given to the location of the site with regard to services and the health and wellbeing of residents, he said.
Ireland 'enhanced by immigration'
Mr O’Callaghan said Ireland has "gained much and been enhanced by immigration".
He added: "We need to seek to avoid the divisive and often aggressive, toxic debate that has developed in other parts of the world."
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon asked the minister about the decision to "deport five children, two of whom were two weeks away from concluding their primary school experience".
He said this "lacked compassion from the State" and asked if the minister regretted this decision.
"I don’t derive any pleasure in doing that," said Mr O’Callaghan in response.
He said the decisions made were part of an effective asylum system.
"Regrettably, it’s something that has to be done," he added.
Mr Gannon also asked the minister how health and safety standards are being managed at IPAS centres.
In response, Mr O’Callaghan said 12 contracts have been terminated this year so far because he "wasn’t happy with the standards in the centres".
"82% of all centres were inspected in 2024," he said. "My officials informed me that there are inspections of premised on a yearly basis and those inspections are unannounced."
Meanwhile, Labour TD Alan Kelly asked if the minister was concerned about the geographical distribution of IPAS centres.
"Location is taken into consideration," said Mr O’Callaghan.
"When there was the surge, there was very little option for the State," he said.
"I don’t want to see a situation where there is a large concentration of IPAS centres in certain areas.
"They need to be distributed."
