The Department of Justice's bill for accommodation for asylum seekers tripled in the three years up to 2004 even though the number of applications fell by more than half, it has emerged.
Each asylum seeker's housing cost €25,721 by the end of 2004, compared with a €9,098 bill in 2001, according to figures given in an examination of the State's asylum and immigration system carried out for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The number of asylum seekers entering Ireland reached a peak of 12,000 in 2002, though this had dropped to "slightly less than 4,300 (excluding reapplications)" by the end of 2004.
The Government's decision to withdraw entitlement to rent allowance to asylum seekers in 2003 is partly blamed for the increase in State-provided accommodation costs between 2003 and 2004.
Though the numbers of asylum seekers has fallen rapidly, 80 per cent of those who unsuccessfully apply are not deported, even though deportation orders would have been signed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell.
"This reflects the complexity of the removals process and the related legislation. The Irish experience is also consistent with international experience where the level of deportations is generally low.
"For example, in Australia, less than 10 per cent of failed asylum seekers left the country in 2003/04. The balance was either given permission to reside as lawful non-citizens or have overstayed.
In the UK, the ratio of failed asylum seekers who were not removed was approximately 79 per cent for 2003/04," the report, carried out PA Consulting, reads.
Total spending on asylum increased from €93.9 million to €122.6 million between 2001 and 2004, with accommodation accounting for 70 per cent of the bill.
The per head cost of dealing with asylum applications, excluding housing costs, rose from €7,817 to €8,367 during the same period.
"However, accommodation costs do not change significantly in line with reductions in applications as the (Department of Justice) Reception and Integration Agency also accommodates people awaiting deportation as well as unaccompanied minors, persons subject to transfer orders under the European Union's Dublin II regulation and persons in the asylum/repatriation process awaiting the outcome of judicial review proceedings.
"Significant improvements to bring down the unit cost per applicant will only occur therefore if the level of expenditure on accommodation is brought down through a more effective removals process," the report declares.
