‘You’re able to work & support yourself’ says 1st Migration Minister to 5k refugees as he reveals ‘firm’ plan & €83m cut

SOME 5,000 refugees have been granted permission to live in Ireland – but they remain in State-provided housing.

Now Ireland’s first Migration Minister, Fine Gael’s Colm Brophy, has told them: “You are able to work — so go out and support yourself.’”

In an interview with Mr Brophy, The Irish Sun today looks at the Government’s immigration crackdown as the Coalition tries to reduce the number of people coming to the country and slash the cost of the €1billion annual cost of running the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) system.

The issue of immigration has shot to prominence in Ireland in recent years as tens of thousands come to our shores.

The State has snapped up deals to take over hotels and buildings across the country to provide accommodation.

In 2024, the lack of housing became so acute that a tent city sprang up outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street, Dublin.

It threatened to become a major health risk as diseases spread among the asylum seekers forced to sleep on our streets.

Anti-immigration protests, at times violent, became commonplace in areas where asylum seekers were being housed.

Misinformation on the issue became widespread online, with protests outside some buildings that were never going to be used by IPAS — some of which were set on fire.

Deputy Brophy said the idea for a Minister for Migration was put forward by his party during government formation talks.

He said: “It is a reaction from Government to say that we recognise there are lots of people in lots of communities around our country that have a lot of worries and concerns about migration, whether it is international protection applicants or migration in general, and they are not in any way extremist.

“They are not in any way shape or form wanting to take part or be involved in violent protest but they just have genuine concerns.

“The best way of addressing that is to put someone in place, through having a designated Minister for Migration who would be able to address those concerns and say to people: ‘this is what we’re doing’.

“We have a system and we will continue to have a system that has to have some people coming in.

“We need our doctors, we need our nurses, we need high-tech experts, we need critical skills people. But we need to have an international protection system that works for applicants, the State and local communities.”

At the peak in 2024, more than 18,000 people came to Ireland seeking asylum.

Minister Brophy claims this was an “unacceptably high level” and the Government had to take action.

So far the Coalition has decided to make it harder to become an Irish citizen, tougher for refugees to bring family members and to charge asylum-seekers rent if they are living in State accommodation.

The majority of these changes will come in the International Protection Bill, expected to pass through the Dail before the summer and to introduce a new 12-week process for people seeking asylum.

The Government has also purchased Citywest Hotel for almost €150million and introduced a new regime of deportation flights to forcibly remove people who have been refused status to stay.

One issue that led to a lot of anger was property owners becoming millionaires by renting buildings to the State for accommodation.

The IPAS service costs the State around €1.2billion to run.

Minister Brophy says he is determined to drive down that cost and has already cut €83million by slashing the “rate card” the State is willing to pay when renewing deals.

He said: “There were large numbers of accommodation being required and we didn’t get best value in some instances. It was very important to me that we move to a State-owned system which is real cost savings.

When commercial providers were involved, we needed to renegotiate those contracts when they came up for renewal and say, ‘This is the new rate card we’re going to pay, it will save the State money and that’s the deal — take it or leave it’.”

The purchase of Dublin’s Citywest Hotel is part of the move to this State-owned model.

There is currently capacity for around 4,500 people in State-owned buildings but the Government is looking to increase this to 14,000 over the coming years.

However, Minister Brophy says they will not go down the track of buying up the last vacant hotel in towns around the country.

He said: “We want to move away from the old scenario. We are very conscious of that and we would prefer to see those hotels returning to hotel use.”

Freeing up space in existing accommodation is now a key focus for the Minister, with 15 per cent of all beds currently taken up by people who have been granted permission to stay in Ireland but have not left State housing. This amounts to around 5,000 people.

Minister Brophy said: “When you get a decision that says you have a right to remain here, you need to leave your IPAS accommodation and move out.

“As it currently stands, you can have people who have taken a few years to go through the system, have been working since six months and they are well able to move out and support themselves like anybody else who now has a right to work in Ireland.

“They should be able to do that and I want us to increase the amount of people who are leaving IPAS and saying ‘out you go, you’ve got your decision which was one of the decisions to enable you to remain, now you are able to work so go out and support yourself.’”

The new contribution model will be one of the ways the Government will encourage people to move out of IPAS accommodation, with refugees who are working set to start paying towards their housing.

This is due to kick in before the end of this year.

When someone is not granted permission to stay in Ireland and they have exhausted the appeals process, they are issued with a deportation order.

But there are concerns over the amount of people abiding by these, with 4,700 orders issued last year and only 2,111 confirmed departures.

While the State prefers that people leave voluntarily, the Government has started enforcing the orders by arresting people and putting them on chartered flights.

Six chartered flights saw more than 200 people removed from the country last year — a process that is very expensive and takes up a lot of garda time and personnel.

These deportation flights have led to accusations from some on the opposition benches that the Government is trying to “act tough”.

However, Minister Brophy said these flights must be part of the mix in a “fair, firm and effective system”.

Asked why he believes immigration has become a difficult issue for countries across the world in recent years, Minister Brophy believes misinformation online is a key part of the reason.

He said: “With immigration in particular, you see through social media and groups that the issue is exploited and hyped. Fears are preyed upon and people get genuinely concerned.

“You have seen that across Europe and the US — you have seen those worries and fears that people have, becoming hyped by groups who are out to do that very much for their own agenda.

“That is why it is important for people like myself, who are at the centre of politics, that you have a system that works and is firm, fair and effective.

“You must have a system that is good for people who are coming into it as an immigrant, as well as existing communities.”