Over 50 asylum seekers in the State waiting for accommodation

Kenneth Fox

A further 31 asylum seekers were unable to be accommodated by the State on Thursday, bringing to 55 the total number of people left without housing assistance since they arrived here this week.

As The Irish Times reports, the rising number of asylum seekers facing the prospect of sleeping rough after arriving into the country seeking refuge has been described as “totally shocking” by homeless charities.

Seven newly-arrived asylum seekers were left without accommodation on Tuesday.

This rose to 17 on Wednesday, and 31 on Thursday, according to the Department of Children and Integration, bringing to 55 the total number of individuals at risk of sleeping rough over the past three days.

The department has said it was prioritising finding scarce accommodation for women and children arriving into the country, leaving some men forced to sleep rough.

The serious shortage of accommodation is expected to continue for several days, but additional accommodation is believed to have been sourced in Kildare, Athlone and Mullingar.

Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon said he has received no information on these acquisitions. The Social Democrats deputy says the lack of information is creating distrust in communities.

"As a TD I have been told nothing, communities are looking out to local representatives for information and many with reasonable questions.

"We have no information for them because of the cloak and dagger nature of these decisions."

A department spokesman said officials had taken the details of asylum seekers it could not accommodate, who would be contacted “as soon as accommodation becomes available”.

Mike Allen, head of advocacy at homeless charity Focus Ireland, said the situation was now “totally shocking”.

“Nobody seems to have done a disaster mitigation plan,” such as providing further temporary tented accommodation or camp beds in sports halls, he said.