Full coverage: Department of Justice

Vista Bay Unlimited received its first payments for the recently opened 622-bed centre at Merrion House in Dublin 4. New State data shows overall payments for emergency accommodation hit €1.6bn last year.

Internal records show senior management concerns that funding and staffing shortfalls will see it struggle to support judicial appointments urgently needed to address chronic shortages in the legal system.

With payments to McEnaney companies since 2020 just short of €340 million for homeless and refugee emergency accommodation, group filings reveal growing profits and distributions across 26 family firms.

The Department of Justice axed plans for an Ipas centre housing 41 asylum seekers on the Stillorgan Road due to its size, location, and the current level of need in the sector. The owner of the property claims it has suffered significant loss.

The department dropped plans for the temporary accommodation centre last April, taking the owner by complete "surprise", the court was told. Protests at the site had been making building works difficult, according to correspondence.

Concerns with State oversight of contracts with private providers were also raised by the C&AG this month, issues which will need to be ironed out as the Government puts another €1.8bn aside for 2026.

A company run by waste mogul Eamon Waters has finalised work to convert a major Merrion Road office block into a 622-bed centre as private companies look to answer a call from Government for commercial help to plug a gap in State-run accommodation.

The review raises serious concerns with management of emergency accommodation through which billions of euro are paid to private providers to make up a shortfall in State-owned accommodation.

Internal files show the International Protection Appeals Tribunal has flagged concerns it may struggle to produce timely, high-quality and fair decisions without additional resources as its caseload balloons.

A premises in Roscommon operated by Transboil Limited was shut down in February over serious fire safety concerns. The company also uses several properties in Donegal recently refused exemptions to operate as emergency accommodation without planning permission.