Dublin City Council is examining whether the long-term use of a former city-centre hotel to house international protection applicants can continue without planning permission, following the discovery that some residents have been living at the premises for more than four years.
Gript previously reported on the planning referral regarding the Dublin Central Inn on Talbot Street, in which the operators are seeking a ruling that accommodation for 102 international protection applicants qualifies as exempted development and can continue without planning permission.
New documents submitted to the council show that although the accommodation is described as emergency provision, dozens of residents have stayed at the property for extended periods, raising fresh questions about where the line lies between temporary accommodation and long-term residential use.
The Section 5 referral seeks a determination on whether the use of the former hotel falls within a planning exemption or requires planning permission.
Under the planning process, a Section 5 application allows a local authority to determine whether a particular use or development is exempt from planning requirements.
The applicant, Coziq Enterprises Limited, contends that the operation falls within the scope of exempt development.
Documents lodged with the council include a State contract under which the company agreed to provide emergency accommodation at the former Dublin Central Inn until August 2026, pending the planning assessment.
Rather than making an immediate decision, Dublin City Council sought further information on occupancy levels, room layouts, support services, residents’ lengths of stay, management arrangements, and any works carried out at the property.
Figures supplied to the council show that 102 people were living in the building on 21 September 2026. Of those, 75 had been living there for more than six months, while 27 had been residents for less than six months.
The records also reveal significant long-term occupancy. The longest recorded stay was 1,594 days, more than four years. Other residents had stays of 1,405, 1,244, 1,035, 983, 963 and 910 days.
Documents submitted as part of the referral indicate that residents come from a wide range of countries.
The largest groups were from Somalia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Botswana, with smaller numbers from Jordan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Georgia, South Africa, Pakistan, Angola, Uganda, Malawi, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Eswatini. Individual residents were also recorded from India, Eritrea and Vietnam.
Registered under planning reference 0335/26, the application seeks a declaration on whether the use of the former hotel to accommodate protected persons constitutes exempted development under Class 14(h). In practical terms, the council is being asked whether the operation can continue without planning permission.
The centre is operated by Coziq Enterprises Limited, whose sole director is businessman Derek Scully. Public records indicate that companies linked to Scully have provided State-funded accommodation to asylum seekers, international protection applicants and displaced Ukrainians.
Planning officials are examining both the building’s physical characteristics and the nature and duration of the accommodation provided before making a decision.
The ruling will determine whether the Talbot Street centre can continue operating under a planning exemption or whether a formal planning application is required.
For critics of the current exemption regime, the occupancy figures are likely to intensify debate over whether accommodation used continuously for several years can be properly described as temporary.
For Dublin City Council, however, the immediate question remains whether the Talbot Street operation falls within the exemption claimed by its operator or whether it requires planning permission.