There are now almost 600 asylum seekers who have not been offered anywhere to stay by the State since arriving in Ireland.
The Government stopped offering accommodation to all single, male asylum seekers on December 4th due to a "nationwide shortage" of places to stay.
In the weeks since, some 720 men have arrived seeking international protection.
Some 82 were offered accommodation after officials carried out an availability and vulnerability triage.
The other 638 were turned away and given a “contingency payment” instead of accommodation.
The number of international protection applicants without State-provided accommodation is now 569, according to latest figures from the Department of Integration.
Since December 4th, 720 new arrivals have not been accommodated at one stage, with 82 of these being subsequently… pic.twitter.com/9exEgZgb0Q
— Barry Whyte (@BarryWhyte85) January 12, 2024
The latest figures from the Department of Immigration show that just 69 of the men have since been offered a place to stay.
It means that 569 men are still waiting on an offer of accommodation from the State – an increase of 57 on figures provided to Newstalk just last Tuesday.
Last year between January 24th and June 15th, a total of 1,542 people were not offered a place to stay when they first applied for international protection in Ireland.
The number of people being left without shelter is climbing far faster this year – reaching the 569 figure in just over a month.
Main image is a file photo showing tents outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin, 27-05-2023. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews
