The Reception Gap: Permanent International Protection Accommodation versus Emergency Accommodation (2026)
Doras' new research examines and compares living conditions in IPAS permanent and emergency accommodation. While permanent centres have faced scrutiny in recent years, emergency accommodation, which now houses the majority of international protection applicants, remains largely unexamined, weakly regulated, and without independent oversight.
The Reception Gap: Permanent International Protection Accommodation versus Emergency Accommodation examines reception conditions within the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS), with particular attention to residents’ experiences of emergency accommodation.
The report covers accommodation conditions, governance and accountability arrangements, access to services, complaints and remedies, transfers, and the lived impacts of prolonged congregated living.
While permanent IPAS centres have been subject to increased scrutiny in recent years, emergency accommodation now accommodates the majority of people seeking international protection.
Yet it remains largely unexamined, weakly regulated, and effectively outside independent oversight.
Using a national survey of residents in emergency accommodation, peer-led focus groups, and key informant interviews with stakeholders, the research team of Professor Ciara Smyth, Dr. Charles O’Mahony and Paul Fallon, assisted by peer researchers Amani Kamal, Fisayo Alo and Matsaseng Ralekoala have documented a system characterised by inconsistency, insecurity, and structural problems.
The report recommendations call for a decisive shift away from reactive, emergency-driven responses towards a coherent, rights-based reception framework.
This project has received funding from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme as part of the Commission's statutory power to provide grants to promote human rights and equality under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
