Tented accommodation for asylum seekers will be provided at Thornton Hall in the very near future, the Department of Integration has confirmed.
The Department said it is working with the Irish Prison Service and the Department of Justice to use a portion of the 160-acre site for this emergency accommodation.
Earlier, the Taoiseach said the site in north Dublin would be a "logical" location to provide large-scale tented accommodation for those seeking international protection.
Simon Harris said it was a matter for the Department of Integration to bring forward specific proposals for the site, which encompasses more than 160 acres, and could take up to four weeks to prepare.
He said the provision of State accommodation remains "extremely challenging" but that the Government "would get on top" of the issue.
Mr Harris added that there needs to be an understanding that the short-term solution would be to provide tented accommodation on State-owned land.
He said immigration was a good thing for the country, but said Ireland has a system that was used to processing around 3,500 applications and that it will now process around 20,000 this year.
He said there needs to be discussions too about why so many more people are coming to the country and how to build a more sustainable system.
'Serviced' site
The tents would be pitched in a part of the Thornton Hall site that is already "serviced". This includes toilets, sanitation facilities, along with kitchens and eating areas.
There is a strong view that now is the time to utilise the site which has been described as a "white elephant".
Thornton Hall was purchased by the State in 2004 at a cost of almost €30m. It was planned at the time to build a prison on the site which also has a well-maintained late 19th century period property.
The Government is examining too if up to 600 free beds, previously used by Ukrainians, could now accommodate International Protection applicants.
One senior figure in the coalition said there is a determination to use this free space for asylum seekers.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he supports the proposal of large-scale tented accommodation at Thornton Hall.
"I believe that Thornton Hall should be used, and that is under consideration."
Speaking at a party campaign launch in Dublin, he added: "It has been considered on and off and, I understand, there is work under way with the Department of Children, Department of Justice and other departments."
He added: "We are exhausting every possible opportunity too that exits, in terms of, the utilisation of sites."
Grand Canal tents
It comes as more than 90 tents were pitched along the Grand Canal in Dublin this morning, between Baggot Street Bridge and Wilton Place.
The encampment is mostly asylum seekers who have been given tents by agencies due to an absence of State accommodation.
They were prevented from putting up tents closer to Mount Street, where the International Protection Accommodation Services office is located, due to barriers being erected.
More than 100 tents were removed from that area, earlier this month, in a multi-agency operation.
Many of the people living in the tents did not want to talk to the media this morning.
Local residents' groups have expressed concerns at the number of asylum seekers sleeping rough along the canal and the general sentiment at a pop-up market along canal today was one of despair for the many international protection applicants sleeping in tents but criticism also of how the overall situation is being handled.
In recent weeks, the Taoiseach insisted that the creation of such encampments cannot be allowed to happen.
Mr Harris said this morning that he wants to continue with compassion regarding International Protection applications, but he said there must also be "an injection of common sense" with regard to the application of the rules.
His comments come as the number of people seeking asylum in Ireland continues to rise.
Mr Harris said the bigger issue was how international agreements are applied and enforced, adding that he wants to know if Ireland's rules are in line with other European countries.
"I want to know are we out of kilter with other European countries, I want to know are we applying the rules. I want to know if our rules around work, our rules around accommodation, are in line with other European countries," he said.
Mr Harris defended the Government’s response to date, but admitted "a lot more work" needs to be done.
The Taoiseach said the focus was now on building a more sustainable system as he said the current one planned for 3,500 arrivals a year. "We are in a very different place now," he added.
Mr Harris said there continues to be an issue with tents emerging but it is "very different" to what happened on Mount Street over recent months.
He said it was "appalling" and it came very close to a public health emergency being declared.
The current tented encampment on the Grand Canal in Dublin does not differ from what existed on Lr Mount Street, Safety Net medical charity spokesperson Dr Fiona O'Reilly said.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Dr O'Reilly said: "There is no security, no registration of people, no water and sanitation ... no basic provisions, no ability to follow up people's basic needs and healthcare."
Dr O'Reilly said the men in the encampment are "basically healthy" but the environment can make them unhealthy by "exacerbating" pre-existing medical conditions, and can also "create" conditions, like colds, coughs, respiratory problems, musculoskeletal problems, skin conditions - contributing to "poorer health", as well as affecting their mental health.
Last night, the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party heard that there could be between 26,000 and 30,000 asylum applications this year.
During a lengthy discussion on migration, alarm is reported to have been expressed as Minister for Finance Michael McGrath told a private meeting at Leinster House that the issue had "exploded" and the Government's management of the issue needed to improve.
Additional reporting Karen Creed, Paul Cunningham, Conor Hunt
