€400,000 spent accommodating asylum seekers in Wicklow IPAS centre which is now lying idle

By Hugh O'Farrell Walsh, The Wicklow People

About €400,000 was spent accommodating asylum seekers at the River Lodge site in Trudder, Newtownmountkennedy last year.

Violent scenes broke out in the area in April 2024 after workers contracted to carry out construction work on the former HSE facility attempted to enter the site.

Several people were arrested during clashes with public order gardai while three garda patrol cars were seriously damaged, and fires were set with more people currently appearing before the courts in relation to the incident.

The international protection applicants who were staying at the site have since been relocated to other locations and the building has been lying vacant for months.

In a letter issued to the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee this week, the Department of Justice outlined it had spent “circa €400,000” on the site but that in December last year, residents had to be moved to alternative accommodation due to severe weather conditions.

Due to the impact of the weather, the department said, “it was not possible to continue using River Lodge as an emergency tented accommodation centre”.

Options to repurpose the site were also considered.

The PAC were informed “the department is maintaining security on the site and there are no current plans to accommodate international protection applicants at this location”.

Following a range of technical and financial assessments – with a particular focus on wastewater treatment infrastructure – “it was deemed not possible to move forward with such proposals”.

The department’s secretary general, Oonagh McPhilips, also outlines in her letter that the International Protection Office (IPO) is ultimately responsible for determining the age of an applicant being treated as an unaccompanied minor in the system.

Tusla is responsible for determining if someone is entitled to access their services, including the provision of accommodation.

However, the committee was informed that an assessment undertaken by Tusla was for processing their application for international protection and determining their age both for use of the agency’s services.

Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay South James Geoghegan, who is a member of the PAC, believes this “directly contradicts” evidence given by the department.

He said that at a recent hearing, department officials “allowed the committee to believe that Tusla is responsible for age assessments”.

He outlined his “real concerns about transparency and the accuracy of what the PAC was told”, saying that the body legally responsible for establishing the age of an applicant “has effectively outsourced or defaulted to Tusla without telling the Oireachtas or explaining why”.

The letter from Ms McPhilips says that when new laws that will overhaul the international protection system take effect in 2026, the IPO will be responsible for managing age assessments.

“The new legislation will set out in far greater detail how age is to be assessed, with new regulations governing standards and the qualifications of personnel involved in that process.”

Mr Geoghegan said this “suggests the department already knows the current system is seriously inadequate but avoided saying so when asked directly about concerns”.

He said that there has been an increase of 13.5 per cent in the number of arrivals of unaccompanied minors during this year, when overall international protection numbers have seen a decrease.

He called for further clarity from the department on the issue.

Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady who is chair of the PAC, explained the information was furnished to the Public Accounts Committee following questions he submitted when the Department of Justice appeared before the committee.

He said the material provided “summarises failures at every level”.

“It exposes the lack of planning, the waste of taxpayers’ money, the haphazard approach taken by the Government, and the complete failure to engage with local public representatives or the wider community,” he said.

“What has happened in Newtown is a sorry saga of mismanagement, and it now needs to be brought to an end.

“The Department continues to maintain security on the site, despite there being no plans to accommodate international protection applicants there.

“The ongoing cost of providing security for an empty, unused site is yet another unnecessary burden on the taxpayer,” he said. “This waste has gone on long enough,” he said.

Deputy Brady is now calling on the Government to immediately end expenditure at River Lodge and hand the site over for community use.

“There are real and pressing community needs in Newtownmountkennedy. River Lodge must be returned to the community, and the continuous waste of taxpayers’ money must stop.”