Most asylum shelters are not subject to HIQA inspections

In April 2024, officials from the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) – the office in charge of offering beds to people seeking asylum – visited Esplanade Hotel, an emergency asylum centre in Bray in Co.Wicklow.

Later, they laid out feedback and complaints shared by residents during the visit, show documents released under the Freedom of Information Act. 

But the last official IPAS inspection report for that centre, dated March 2024 – the one that’s publicly available – doesn’t cover complaints like the ones listed in the internal records. 

Meanwhile, emergency asylum centres like this one aren’t subject to inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), which publishes more in-depth reports, and judges compliance.  

Some centres are excluded from it, depending on the terms of their contract with the government, said a spokesperson for HIQA. “For example, emergency or temporary accommodation.”

As the government faced a shortage of beds for people seeking refuge in recent years, the number of its emergency asylum shelters, which generally have lower standards, has ticked up.

Of the 324 asylum centres across the country, 269 of them are emergency shelters –  that’s 83 percent, official figures show.

People’s stay in these centres can be lengthy, too – sometimes until they win immigration papers and while they search for private rentals to then move into.  

That the quality and conditions of emergency shelters aren’t independently checked is a worry underlined in the 2025 Child Poverty Monitor report from the non-profit Children’s Rights Alliance. 

The internal IPAS report from last year painted an image of stressful living conditions for kids at the Bray centre – of heated arguments between their parents and staff.

“Of the 9,389 children in the International Protection system, 7,226 are living in emergency accommodation,” says the 2025 Child Poverty Monitor report.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice – which reassumed responsibility for sheltering people seeking asylum and took hold of IPAS this year – said HIQA is mandated to inspect designated shelters like the national reception centre in Balseskin. 

“Inspections of other IPAS centres are carried out by an independent inspections company as well as by officials of [IPAS],” they said.

They didn’t give more details about the inspections company.

But they said that IPAS inspections are unannounced and “also check on whether centres are fulfilling their contractual obligations regarding the provision of services”.

Not suitable for children 

The Espalanade Hotel has been used as a shelter for people seeking asylum since before 2022 and the post-pandemic surge in arrival numbers.

During the IPAS visit to the centre in April 2024, a resident told officials that management had allegedly “ripped [their] child’s pictures that was on the walls. [...] was called a bad mother”, says the internal report. 

“Management claimed that the [resident] also torn up reception and thrown things around the centre during one of these disputes,” it says.

It says the problems are likely to go away once the resident moves out and into private accommodation. 

It also mentions’ residents' concerns around threats of calling Tusla to take away their kids. 

Mums raising their children in other asylum centres had said in the past that it’s a common threat from managers, causing them to be afraid to take a break from being around their kids, even for a little while. 

No access to food for children “when they ask for it” was another issue shared with officials about the Bray centre, documents show.

The food is lacking in protein, a resident had said.

A quick mention of access to suitable food is also noted in the official IPAS inspection report. “Resident in room 401 reported that her child has Autism and requires a special menu,” it says. 

The new Child Poverty Monitor report points to food poverty experienced by children living in asylum centres. “One of the most pressing issues is children accessing nutritious food,” it says.

A spokesperson for the Ombudsman for Children said it remains “deeply concerned” about the quality of life for children in emergency asylum centres. 

“And the impact these poor living conditions are having on their mental and physical health,” they said.

It reiterated its concerns at a joint Oireachtas committee meeting on children and equality on 26 June, the spokesperson said.

“That children are still living in insecure and unregulated settings and that, despite long-standing recommendations, HIQA still does not have remit to inspect emergency accommodation centres,” they said. 

The years of living precariously 

Issues at the Esplanade Hotel seem to persist. On WhatsApp, residents send recordings of fights and images of cockroaches in their rooms. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice did not address queries about that centre.

For a long time, residents have said that IPAS generally tends to side with managers of its centres in responses to issues and conflicts.

IPAS bureaucracy for sending complaints can be hard to navigate for some people, too.

It asks residents to first complain to the manager directly, wait two weeks for a reply and then report to IPAS if they’re not happy with the response.

“To complain directly to IPAS, you must include the original complaint form which you submitted to the Centre Manager and their response. 

IPAS will not accept complaints which do not include these items,” says a recent email to a resident at the Esplanade Hotel.   

Lucky Khambule of Movement of Asylum Seekers (MASI) says its members have always told MASI about complaints that never went anywhere.  

“They always tell people they can leave if they’re not happy, without even listening to residents.”

MASI is sceptical of IPAS’s inspections, too, he said, whether they’re really unannounced. “We receive numerous complaints from residents about poor living conditions.”

He thinks HIQA should be mandated to inspect all centres, whether they’re emergency or permanent. 

Sorca Clarke, Sinn Féin TD for Longford-Westmeath, recently got an email from a worried resident in an emergency IPAS centre, she said.

“This person shares a room with others, they’re not related,” said Clarke.

They were worried because a resident who’d tested positive for Covid in the hospital returned to live alongside others in a cramped room, she said in an email.

“Obviously, the other people sharing the room were deeply concerned,” said Clarke.

Clarke raised it at the Dáil. The Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD, laid out what should happen  – isolation if needed, if not feasible on site, at a HSE facility.

Recently, Khambule says, residents in a Carlow shelter wrote to MASI to complain that it is stressful to live in a cramped room alongside a resident’s guide dog. 

“Instead of giving the lady with a dog her own private room,” he said.

He forwards one of the Carlow residents’ texts on WhatsApp. “You know Mr Khambule the way I feel stressed about this condition since I came here,” it says.