The Government has been called upon to publish the full timeline costs of the State’s €148 million purchase of the Citywest complex.
In June, it emerged that Cabinet had approved plans to proceed with the purchase of the Citywest Hotel and campus in Dublin for €148.2m, with the intention of using the former hotel as asylum seeker accommodation. The buying of the complex was a “sensible decision,” according to Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan. The two buildings can accommodate 2,300 people and will continue to house Ukrainians and international protection applicants.
Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn, speaking on Monday, said that transparency was needed around the purchase.
“It’s like trying to draw blood from a stone to get any real clarity on any of this issue,” the TD for Cork North Central said, describing the deal as “one of the largest single accommodation outlays in recent years” with little transparency. The TD says that local communities and taxpayers alike have been “left in the dark” over the deal, adding:
“The public has been given no clear picture of the long-term costs, no assessment of security implications, and no clarity on what services will actually be delivered on site.
“Communities are entitled to answers. They see decisions made over their heads while schools, policing, and transport in their areas are already under strain. Taxpayers are entitled to accountability when such vast sums of money are committed.
The TD wants the Minister for Justice and the Department to publish a detailed 10-year breakdown of the full costs associated with Citywest, including operating expenditure, security arrangements and the level of community supports required, adding that Ireland “urgently needs an open debate on whether this massive outlay represents the best use of public funds at a time when so many other national priorities remain under strain.”
“At a time when housing shortages, hospital waiting lists, and cost of living pressures remain acute, every euro of public money must be accounted for,” he said.
“Independent Ireland stands for fiscal responsibility and community respect. The Government must do the same.”
“Our Councillor in the area Cllr Linda de Courcy has been working for months with the wider community in trying to get answers around a number of significant issues and is fighting hard for the very many people with serious concerns but it is like trying to draw blood from a stone to get any real clarity on any of this.”
Cllr de Courcy, an Independent Ireland councillor for Clondalkin, told the Irish Independent over the weekend that local objections to Citywest were not borne from anti-migrant sentiment, but said that the people of Saggart “should be prioritised over people coming in, the vast majority of whom, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said, are economic migrants.”
Ms de Courcy, who was elected last year after campaigning against uncontrolled immigration, added: “If they wanted to resolve this, they could make it harder to get into the country.”
The South Dublin councillor has been prominent in raising concerns about reports of theft and drugs found in the IPAS centre. Records released under the Freedom of Information Act show that there have been 264 cases of aggression, whilst 84 assaults were recorded in security logs over 18 months up to the end of June.
The purchase of Citywest is part of the government’s plan to provide 14,000 State-owned beds for asylum seekers by 2028.
The 764-bed hotel and conference centre has been leased by the State since 2020, and had initially been used as a testing and vaccine centre during the Covid crisis in 2022. It was later converted to an accommodation and processing facility for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees.