The Government is working to house people coming to Ireland in the face of an "astronomical increase" in arrivals, the Justice Minister has said.

Helen McEntee says the Government will have to assess a ruling that Ireland is breaching international human rights laws over its failure to house those who have sought International Protection here.

The High Court has ruled that the State's failure to provide for the basic needs of unaccommodated asylum seekers breaches their right to human dignity under the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Mr Justice Barry O'Donnell said he was satisfied the current response of the state was 'inadequate' by leaving International Protection applicants 'without accommodation or the means to access accommodation.'

The case was taken by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).

'Not for a lack of trying'

Minister Helen McEntee told The Hard Shoulder everything that can be done is being done.

"What the Judge was very clear on is that it's not for a lack of Government trying," she said.

"Obviously a huge amount of effort has and is being made over the last number of years to house tens of thousands of people - and in particular post-COVID.

"We've seen an astronomical increase in people coming to the country and seeking International Protection.

"That's on top of obviously the tens of thousands of people who fled Ukraine where a war is still ongoing.

"Every effort has been made and that was acknowledged by the court.

"At the same time we acknowledge... that there have been people in more recent months where we haven't been able to accommodate [them]".

'Larger accommodation centres'

Minister McEntee said the issue will continue "in the years ahead".

"We need to have State-provided accommodation, we need to have larger accommodation centres," she said.

"On my part as Minister for Justice we need to make sure the immigration system itself - the processing of applications, how quickly we can do it, expanding the system - that that continues.

"That really has been a priority for me for the last two years," she added.

Asylum seeker arrivals

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it welcomes today's High Court decision and calls on the Government to take "immediate action" to provide accommodation to all asylum seekers.

Latest available figures show that 2,353 recently-arrived asylum seekers remain without an offer of accommodation.

The Government has spent €1.3bn to accommodate asylum seekers since 2022.

It spent over €356m in 2022, €651m in 2023 and €318m has been spent up to May this year to house 30,000 asylum seekers.

Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman said in Dáil questions the figures include accommodation costs such as “transport, facilities management and other related expenditure”.

Ireland is housing over 102,000 people in State-supported accommodation.

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