Former owner of Citywest Hotel receives over €50m for housing IP applicants
Kenneth Fox
The State has paid the former owners of the Citywest Hotel, Cape Wrath UC, more than €50 million (incl VAT) to accommodate International Protection (IP) applicants since the State's purchase of the hotel last August.
New quarterly Purchase Order figures from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration show that the Department paid Cape Wrath UC €15.68 million between April 1st and June 30th this year for accommodating IP applicants at the Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre in west Dublin.
The €15.68 million brings to €49.24 million the State has paid Cape Wrath UC in three quarterly periods since the start of October last year.
In August of last year, the State paid Tetrarch Capital firm, Cape Wrath UC, €148.25 million (incl VAT) for Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre, which has a capacity of approximately 2,300.
The €49.24m payments to Cape Wrath UC from last October and additional payments made since the August purchase to the end of September 2025 arise from the Government entering into a 12-month transitional arrangement post-purchase with Cape Wrath UC to continue to manage the hotel on behalf of the State.
The payments are set to continue for the remainder of this year at least, as the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Jim O’Callaghan (FF) indicated in a recent Dáil written reply that a Government-appointed contractor to operate Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre for International Protection (IP) applicants won’t be in place until 2027.
The new figures show that it cost the State on average €3.48 million per day for the second quarter to accommodate IP applicants and Ukrainians.
The figures show that the Department paid out €317.05 million to accommodate IP applicants and Ukrainians from April 1st to June 30th.
In total, firms accommodating IP applicants received €255.6 million while payments to firms accommodating Ukrainians continued to reduce sharply and amounted to €61.45 million for the three months.
The €61.45m to accommodate Ukrainians followed the Dept paying firms €61.42 million under the same heading for the first quarter of this year.
The sharp drop in accommodation costs for Ukrainians follows recent Government policy brought into force last November that new arrivals from Ukraine are accommodated in Designated Accommodation Centres (DACs) for a maximum of 30 days under the time-bound policy.
In May, the Cabinet agreed that most of the 16,000 Ukrainians living in State-contracted commercial accommodation will be required to find alternative homes by March 2027.
The measures are to be introduced on a phased basis from August, while vulnerable individuals who wish to remain in State-contracted accommodation will be able to do so.
The most recent International Protection accommodation figures show that there are 32,483 IP applicants, including 9,694 children, being accommodated in 301 centres nationwide.
The total on July 19th is only a marginal decrease on the 33,241 that were being accommodated at the end of 2025.
The new Dept Purchase Order figures show that a number of firms continue to generate millions each quarter from accommodating IP applicants.
Apart from Cape Wrath UC, other firms to receive high amounts include Bridgestock Care UC, which received €10 million for accommodating IP applicants and Ukrainians, and Smorgs ROI Management Ltd, which received €9.8 million for accommodating IP applicants and Ukrainians.
Another hotel operator, Tifco Ltd, received €6.38 million for accommodating IP applicants, while operator of the Red Cow Moran complex in west Dublin, Guestford Ltd, received €7.8 million for the second quarter this year for housing IP applicants.
The figures show that AllPro Security Services Ltd received €4 million while Co Mayo firm Tirawley Ltd received €6 million.
The quarterly purchase figures also show that Mosney UC received €8.48 million while Holiday Inn Dublin Airport Skyline View Ltd received €7.36 million for accommodating IP applicants.
