International Protection

595. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department intends to introduce a standardised national survey of the educational and professional backgrounds of all persons residing in IPAS accommodation; if so, to set out the methodology, governance, and timeline; and if not, the reason the State continues to operate without consolidated information nece…

620. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department intends to introduce a structured and standardised assessment of educational and professional qualifications for all residents in IPAS centres; the governance framework that would underpin such an assessment; the expected timelines for design and implementation; and the way the resulting data would…

621. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has conducted any policy review of the current labour-market access permission for international protection applicants, including the number of permissions issued, renewal rates, rates of employment uptake, and any assessment of barriers to labour-market entry; and if he will publish any internal p…

622. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has engaged with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment or the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science regarding the development of a cross-Government framework for recognising skills, qualifications and vocational experience of international prote…

623. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his Department’s data-governance policy regarding information collected from international protection applicants, including education, training, and work-history data submitted as part of permission-to-remain considerations; the reason this information is not recorded in a format that permits statistical analysis; a…

624. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his Department’s policy for the collection, verification, retention and publication of incident data relating to International Protection Accommodation Services facilities; including the basis on which the Department determines what incident categories fall within its statutory responsibility; and what information i…

625. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his Department’s governance framework for incident reporting and escalation within International Protection Accommodation Services facilities, including the procedures used by facility operators to notify the Department of serious incidents and the Department’s role in auditing or validating those reports. [69569/25…

626. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to provide, for each month from 1 January 2025 to 31 August 2025, the number of incidents notified to his Department by operators of a facility (details supplied) disaggregated by the Department’s incident-reporting categories; and if this data underwent internal review for completeness and accuracy. [69570/25]

627. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his Department’s policy on inter-agency information-sharing for International Protection Accommodation Services facilities, including agreements or protocols with An Garda Síochána concerning the exchange of incident data, risk assessments or safety alerts, and to confirm whether any memoranda of understanding or st…

628. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department carried out any risk assessments or safety audits of a facility (details supplied) between 1 January 2025 and 31 August 2025, and to provide the dates, scope and any non-operationally sensitive findings or recommendations arising from those assessments. [69572/25]

629. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total Departmental expenditure on security provisions at a facility (details supplied) for the period 1 January 2025 to 31 August 2025, including contracted on-site security personnel, supplementary security personnel, security infrastructure upgrades, CCTV expansion, access control systems and perimeter fortifi…

630. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the procurement processes, competitions, or contract renewals undertaken by his Department since 1 January 2024 relating to security services or security infrastructure for a facility (details supplied); the procurement route used; the successful tenderers; and the value and duration of each contract. [69574/25]

631. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his Department’s criteria for determining when increases in security staffing or expenditure at an International Protection Accommodation Services facility require escalation, ministerial approval or an internal review, and to specify whether any such escalations occurred at a facility (details supplied) in 2025. [6…

632. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has compared its internal incident-data records for a facility (details supplied) with public communications issued by the Department during 2025 relating to crime rates or safety trends at International Protection Accommodation Services locations, and to confirm whether any discrepancies or varian…

633. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the internal reviews, assessments or Departmental submissions that were prepared between 1 October 2025 and 27 November 2025 concerning security arrangements, incident reporting, public-order issues or inter-agency engagement at a facility (details supplied); and whether any recommendations or policy changes resulte…

636. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has considered introducing a structured skills-and-qualifications assessment for all new arrivals into IPAS accommodation, including recording of highest education level, professional credentials, and vocational skills, as part of initial reception procedures; the governance arrangements that would…

637. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has evaluated the extent to which international protection applicants with labour market access permission have skills that match labour shortages identified by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; if any interdepartmental work has been undertaken to compare qualifications held by ap…

638. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the data-management standards that govern information collected from international protection applicants at reception stage; the reason his Department does not collect or retain structured data on education and professional qualifications that would support evidence-based labour market policy and integration plannin…

639. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the reason his Department does not maintain national-level anonymised data on the educational and professional qualifications of those residing in IPAS accommodation, given that such data is routinely collected by other EU member states for planning and integration purposes; and the steps he will take to bring Irela…

673. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the procurement basis on which security services have been engaged for a facility (details supplied) since 2021, including the legal rationale used to dispense with public tendering requirements under Directive 2014/24/EU and S.I. 284/2016. [69865/25]

674. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total expenditure on security services at a facility (details supplied) to date in 2025; to provide an annual breakdown of payments to each contracted provider; and his Department’s governance arrangements for verifying compliance before drawdown of public funds. [69867/25]

675. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if a risk assessment completed in early 2023 identified the use of unlicensed or unvetted personnel by a subcontractor engaged by a company (details supplied); and the actions taken at policy and contract-management level in response to the findings. [69868/25]

676. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his Department’s procedures for ensuring that all personnel deployed at IPAS-managed accommodation centres hold valid licences issued by the Private Security Authority; and the way in which these compliance checks are monitored, recorded and enforced. [69869/25]

677. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the reason payments to a company (details supplied) continued after the completion of the 2023 risk assessment; and whether his Department conducted any contract review, escalation or sanction process before authorising further expenditure. [69870/25]

678. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the due-diligence process undertaken by his Department before the appointment of a company (details supplied) as a security provider for a facility; and whether his Department assessed any corporate or beneficial links between the companies. [69871/25]