Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he is “absolutely not” satisfied that the State has received value for money in its spending on the IPAS accommodation system.
Speaking to Gript outside Government Buildings on Tuesday morning ahead of this week’s cabinet meeting, the Fine Gael Minister said the current model is “absolutely not” appropriate either.
“Am I satisfied we’re getting value for money in relation to IPAS? Absolutely not,” he said.
“Am I satisfied that the model is appropriate? Absolutely not.”
He went on to say that Ireland had been operating in an emergency context, which had forced the State into a reactive approach.
“I make the point that obviously we’ve been in an emergency situation and been trying to respond,” he said.
“And in that sense, we’ve had to, somewhat by necessity, be quite reactive. You know—what properties are available, how can we quickly comply with our legal obligations?”
The Tánaiste said this reactive system led to poor value and “suboptimal” long-term planning.
“That does, in my view, not achieve the best value for the Irish people in terms of value for money,” he said.
“It also achieves, maybe, a suboptimal approach to planning ahead, because instead of saying, ‘Hang on a second, how are we going to meet our needs in terms of a migration system?’, you end up being the receiver of what properties are available.”
Harris argued that the government needed to move away from depending on hotels and private accommodation, suggesting a greater role for State-owned facilities.
“I have very strong views, as does this government, that this is a model we need to move away from,” he said.
“I’d like to see, for example, state-owned facilities, rather than going around the community having to dip into communities and take facilities, including hotels. That’s where we need to get to.”
He cited Citywest as a location that could offer better value.
“In fairness to the Minister for Justice, there’s a lot of work underway in relation to that,” he said.
“For example, the Citywest facility, I think, has capacity to potentially do more and achieve better value for money.”
He welcomed the Public Accounts Committee’s upcoming inquiry into IPAS spending.
“I welcome the fact that the PAC are going to shine a light on this,” he said.
“It’s right and proper that they should. And no area of government spending should be beyond robust checks.”
Higher Education Minister James Lawless also expressed dissatisfaction with IPAS expenditure when asked by Gript on the same morning.
“Look, I certainly think that it’s not value for money,” he said.
“I think that we’ve seen extraordinary levels of spending.”
Lawless acknowledged public concern about how money was being used.
“I think that in some cases, citizens are rightly entitled to ask, ‘Is that a good use of public funds?’” he said.
“And are we getting economies of scale…is that being achieved here? And is there consistency of approach?”
He said there had not been consistency to date, but expressed hope for improvements.
“I think, to be honest, to date there hasn’t been,” he said.
“I think that’s something we need to improve in this government, and some of my colleagues, to be fair, across government, are working on it. So yeah, look, I think we could do better, and I think we will.”
The Public Accounts Committee is due to launch a formal investigation into IPAS costs in June, as previously reported by Gript.
According to its chair, Sinn Féin TD John Brady, the probe will examine the governance, oversight, and value for money of the system amid record expenditure.
In 2024 alone, over €1bn was spent on housing International Protection applicants, with €280m of that in the final quarter. The combined spend on those applicants and Ukrainian refugees reached €1.84bn that year—an average of €5m per day.
“This is not a marginal overspend – this is a runaway train,” Brady said in a statement last week.
The inquiry will also scrutinise who is profiting from accommodation contracts, the quality of services being provided, and whether the system is delivering appropriate outcomes.