The International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) is a unit of the Irish

Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration () is a Department of State (Ireland), department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. The department's mission is to maintain and ...

. It is responsible for the provision of accommodation and related services to people in the international protection process, being those applying for

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

status or

subsidiary protection Subsidiary protection is international protection for persons seeking asylum who do not qualify as refugees. In European law, Directive 2004/83/EC defines the minimum standards for qualifying for subsidiary protection status. The Directive was lat ...

Overview

IPAS is responsible for coordinating the provision of services to both asylum seekers and refugees, coordinating the implementation of integration policy for all refugees and persons granted leave to remain in the Republic of Ireland and responding to crisis situations which may result in large numbers of refugees arriving in the country.

History

The Directorate for Asylum Support Services (DASS) was established in November 1999 as a unit of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It introduced a system of direct provision for asylum applicants, providing residential accommodation and ancillary services to asylum seekers while they await the outcome of their applications for asylum. To meet this requirement, various private companies provide these services at several accommodation centres on the country, the largest being at

Mosney Mosney () is a townland and village in County Meath, Ireland. It is in the civil parish of Moorechurch north of Dublin city centre, and south-east of Drogheda. It was best known as the site of a Butlin's holiday camp during the second half ...

. The system has been criticised by human rights organisations as illegal, inhuman and degrading. The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) was established by the

Irish government The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

on 2 April 2001 as a merger of the DASS and the Refugee Agency (which was part of the

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

). After a government decision of 2 March 2004, RIA was assigned responsibility for supporting the repatriation, on an ongoing basis for the

Department of Social Protection The Department of Social Protection () is a department of the Government of Ireland, tasked with administering Ireland's social welfare system. It oversees the provision of income support and other social services. It is led by the Minister fo ...

, of nationals of the ten new EU member states (

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

) who might fail the Habitual Residency Condition attaching to Social Assistance Payments. In December 2019, RIA was divided into the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) and the International Protection Procurement Services (IPPS). In October 2020, IPAS and IPPS were transferred from the Department of Justice to the restructured Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

References

External links

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Accommodation Resources
{{authority control Right of asylum in the Republic of Ireland Department of Children, Disability and Equality Government agencies of the Republic of Ireland