Today, as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, I launched our latest report examining expenditure, governance and value for money within the International Protection and Temporary Protection systems.
The findings make for deeply concerning reading.
What we have exposed is a system characterised by chaotic procurement, weak financial controls, poor contract management, a lack of transparency and, ultimately, an extraordinary waste of public money.
The scale of expenditure is staggering.
In 2024, €1.06 billion was spent on IPAS accommodation, with almost €978 million going to commercial providers. One contractor alone received €45.55 million.
In 2025, IPAS expenditure rose to €1.22 billion.
A further €1.164 billion was spent on accommodation and supports for Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection in 2024, with one commercial provider receiving almost €54 million.
These figures tell their own story. A small number of commercial operators have made enormous sums of money from a system that has repeatedly failed to deliver value for money.
Our examination also uncovered millions of euro in apparent overpayments, serious weaknesses in contract oversight, €13.5 million in EU funding that had to be repaid, and significant undisclosed legal liabilities.
This is not acceptable.
We need an immigration and international protection system that is fair, efficient, properly managed and properly enforced. But we also need a system where public money is protected and where commercial profiteering is not allowed to flourish at the expense of the taxpayer.
Our report makes 13 recommendations to address these failures, strengthen accountability, recover historical overpayments, expand State-owned accommodation and improve transparency.
The message from the Public Accounts Committee is clear: the Department must act.
The public deserve answers. They deserve accountability. And they deserve to know that every euro of taxpayers’ money is being spent properly.
We cannot continue with a system where billions are spent, accountability is lacking and private operators are making fortunes.
The findings make for deeply concerning reading.
What we have exposed is a system characterised by chaotic procurement, weak financial controls, poor contract management, a lack of transparency and, ultimately, an extraordinary waste of public money.
The scale of expenditure is staggering.
In 2024, €1.06 billion was spent on IPAS accommodation, with almost €978 million going to commercial providers. One contractor alone received €45.55 million.
In 2025, IPAS expenditure rose to €1.22 billion.
A further €1.164 billion was spent on accommodation and supports for Ukrainian beneficiaries of temporary protection in 2024, with one commercial provider receiving almost €54 million.
These figures tell their own story. A small number of commercial operators have made enormous sums of money from a system that has repeatedly failed to deliver value for money.
Our examination also uncovered millions of euro in apparent overpayments, serious weaknesses in contract oversight, €13.5 million in EU funding that had to be repaid, and significant undisclosed legal liabilities.
This is not acceptable.
We need an immigration and international protection system that is fair, efficient, properly managed and properly enforced. But we also need a system where public money is protected and where commercial profiteering is not allowed to flourish at the expense of the taxpayer.
Our report makes 13 recommendations to address these failures, strengthen accountability, recover historical overpayments, expand State-owned accommodation and improve transparency.
The message from the Public Accounts Committee is clear: the Department must act.
The public deserve answers. They deserve accountability. And they deserve to know that every euro of taxpayers’ money is being spent properly.
We cannot continue with a system where billions are spent, accountability is lacking and private operators are making fortunes.
