Minister for Integration Roderic O'Gorman has denied claims made by opposition politicians that asylum seekers on Mount Street in Dublin city centre were moved in light of St Patrick’s Day.
They were sleeping rough outside the International Protection Office after the Government stopped providing State accommodation to international protection applicants in December.
The minister said that he made the decision to move about 150 asylum seekers to emergency accommodation at Crooksling in Co Dublin yesterday, after the site became available in recent days.
He said about 130 of them spent the night there, and about 20 left and returned to the city centre.
He added that there are 15 toilets at Crooksling and six showers, but said that more facilities would be provided in the weeks ahead.
"It was a decision in light of the fact of the unacceptable situation that had been taking place in Mount Street over the last number of weeks where people didn’t have access to sanitation services, showers, meals and weren’t secure at night," Mr O'Gorman said.
Around a dozen tents remain outside the International Protection Office off Mount Street, after hundreds of international protection applicants were offered alternative tented accommodation on the outskirts of Dublin city.
Gardaí patrolled the Mount Street area regularly overnight and volunteers, one of whom slept in a car, said that there were no incidents.
Read more: Man left 'miserable' Crooksling to return to Dublin city
The Taoiseach said yesterday that the reason why asylum seekers were moved from Dublin city centre to Crooksling was because there were no sanitary facilities or showers.
The Department of Integration has said that the accommodation on offer will not just be for the St Patrick's weekend.
In a statement, the Department of Integration said: "The site at Mount Street was cleared in cooperation with Dublin City Council due to the emerging public health and security risks.
"Approximately 130 people are being accommodated at the Crooksling site. A small number left yesterday, with some of those subsequently returning.
It added that the images "shared on social media purporting to show the only toilet at Crooksling are not accurate".
Mr O'Gorman explained that the asylum seekers were not consulted about where they were being moved to, but said that has never been the position taken by Government.
The minister said that there was huge pressure on the system to provide accommodation, which he said was particularly difficult for male applicants in terms of the lack of additional capacity.
He explained that tented accommodation was also provided in the last two weeks before Crooksling became available.
He said that he recognised that what is being provided at Crooksling is basic, but that it is "significantly better" than the situation at Mount Street.
"I have worked very closely with my officials to provide an alternative; the site at Crooksling is a State-owned former HSE site, it only became available to us in the last ten days and we’ve been working closely in terms of how we can make that site usable to international protection applicants, how we can put in place those basic facilities.
"They were available yesterday, and as such we worked to move the international protection applicants to the site," he said.
The minister added that there had been a significant amount of inaccurate coverage and material being circulated online in terms of the facilities. He said that there is a report that there is just one single functioning toilet, and that is not true.
Asked whether the asylum seekers currently at Mount Street would be moved on again, he said that would be a matter for An Garda Síochána and Dublin City Council.
He said that the department would make clear to those people that accommodation is available with facilities and encourage them to take that up.
"The offer of accommodation at the Crooksling site remains open to those who didn’t take it up yesterday.
"We can’t compel people to stay in international protection accommodation, people are in the system on a voluntary basis," he added.
He said that due to protests and arson attacks, opening new accommodation sites is hard, but that the site at Crooksling is safe.
He added that the department did not have a policy of discouraging asylum seekers from coming to Ireland.
"The sole reason that people aren’t being accommodated is that we cannot bring on sufficient additional accommodation right now."
Asked why it is taking so long to get State-run reception centres on stream, he said that his department was working closely with other Government departments, such as the Department of Public Expenditure to ensure the capital support to allow this be implemented.
He said that this move would mean that the country can move past being almost 100% reliant on the private sector to accommodate asylum seekers.
"It will also set out some of the shorter term measures that we can implement to meet the very significant numbers of those seeking international protection that we are currently experiencing."
Former minister for justice Charlie Flanagan again criticised the move.
He described it as a debacle and he said there were serious question marks over the decision making process at the Department of Integration.
"As a former minister and supporter of Government I am reluctant to intervene but the scenes yesterday were harrowing," he said.
Volunteers had warned of a humanitarian crisis in the camp on Mount Street because of a lack of basic sanitation facilities.
However, at least 20 men returned to Mount Street from Crooksling last night.
They said the new location was "too remote" and it was cold when they arrived and they feared it could be colder tonight.
The men said they were promised sanitary facilities in Crooksling, but "they didn't work".
They said they understand conditions at Mount Street may be even more difficult than they were before but they prefer to stay there than in Crooksling.
There is also a small number of volunteers on Mount Street.
A number of other men are also expected to make their way back to Mount Street later today.
It was quiet at Crooksling where several security guards were seen letting in supplies on the other side of a metal gate that had been erected.
There were no protesters at the site, although some signs saying the HSE-owned site should be used for the elderly in the area and a tricolour flag remained outside.
Additional reporting Mícheál Lehane
