COMMUNITIES across Ireland are at “breaking point”, said County Limerick politician Joanne Collins, as she called out the government’s “failure to plan properly for migration leaving families, schools, and services under immense strain while profiteers cash in on State contracts”.
Speaking in the Seanad, the Limerick Sinn Féin senator said that figures estimate the State will spend in the region of €1.2billion on International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) housing this year alone, “with hundreds of millions more on housing for Ukrainians”.
“The average daily rate per bed has surged by 68 per cent between 2022 and 2024, while some companies have made millions from State contracts,” Senator Collins told the Seanad.
“Families can’t find homes, schools are overcrowded, GP lists are closed, and public transport is collapsing. Young people are being forced abroad because they can’t afford to live here.
“And in the middle of this crisis, the government is funnelling billions into a broken IPAS system that rewards private profiteering instead of supporting communities.”
The Limerick senator claimed that one company in the sector “paid its directors €4.6million in 2024”.
“Communities are left to cope while profiteers cash in,” she hit out.
Senator Collins condemned the government’s “reliance on planning exemptions, top-down directives, and a lack of engagement with local communities”, calling it “a recipe for chaos and division”.
She said her party demands change, including a “full review” of all IPAS and accommodation contracts, an immediate end to planning exemptions for new centres, and full transparency and accountability on where taxpayer money is spent.
“Migration can and should be a positive force for Ireland. Our health service depends on migrant workers, and communities across the country have been enriched by newcomers. But that only works if the government does its job: planning properly, supporting communities, and stamping out profiteering,” she said.
Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration, Colm Brophy responded with a reference to RTÉ’s The Traitors Ireland, which he said “represents the new Ireland”.
“It represents people who have come here, including someone who … had come here through international protection. If that programme had been made 10 years ago, it would have been a very different type of programme,” the Minister said.
“It shows so clearly that the new Ireland we are going to have will not be a homogenous Ireland. It will be an Ireland that I believe still has to have the basic values we hold dear. These are inclusivity, respect for others, working together, and having a system of rules and laws while recognising we have to do it in a way that is inclusive.”
