Government to buy Citywest Hotel for €148.2 million

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The Government has approved the purchase of the Citywest Hotel and convention centre for €148.2 million, the Justice Minister has said.

Jim O’Callaghan said that it would be “far cheaper” to own the facility in west Dublin instead of paying private providers for the services and accommodation.

He said it would be used as a screening centre where applications for asylum will be processed.

He said it was in line with the commitment in the programme for government to own 14,000 accommodation units for asylum seekers.

He said there are no “immediate” plans to expand the number of places at Citywest, which is currently being used as a reception centre for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees.

“Over a period of four years, we believe we’d be in the position where we would have got our money back in terms of the investment.

“Over a longer period of time, if you compare what we’re spending in the private sector from the amount of money we’ll be spending in terms of a state-owned entity, over a period of about 25 years, we’ll be looking at a saving of €1.25 billion.”

Locals from Saggart protested outside Leinster House last week over government plans to buy the Citywest facility.

They raised concerns about losing the amenity of the hotel complex and about demand for services.

Minister of State Colm Brophy said that local representatives would be engaged with so that the local community are informed.

He said the decision was being made on a “value for money” basis and that if it is directly owned by the State, it can save around 50 per cent of the operating costs.

“Very importantly, the purchase of Citywest will not result in any immediate increase in numbers,” he said.

“The plan with Citywest is very simply, to develop the asset and make sure that we have the ability, particularly under the Migration Pact, to have a state-of-the-art processing facility whereby people’s applications can be cleared within 13 weeks from when they arrive in the country.”

He added: “Citywest has actually been working very effectively in terms of having an Ipas centre there, having Ukrainians also present, and having a range of services and facilities which have been working effectively and successfully for many, many years.

“We are not planning on changing those numbers.”