The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has said it is "very, very concerned" at the shortage of accommodation for asylum-seekers in Dublin.
A spokesman for the UNHCR's Dublin office said that, while the Government was making a "terrific effort" to house asylum-seekers, a significant proportion were not being accommodated on first contacting the Eastern Health Board. While many found temporary shelter with friends or other asylum-seekers, the present shortage was "clearly an unsatisfactory situation".
After a meeting of the sub-committee of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Immigration, Asylum and Related Issues, the Minister for Justice decided that advertisements would be placed in national and local newspapers this weekend seeking people and organisations willing to provide accommodation.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the invitation would be open to the private sector, non-governmental organisations, religious groups and other interested bodies. The inter-departmental committee is chaired by Mr O'Donoghue, and the subcommittee which met yesterday is specifically charged with the dispersal of asylum-seekers.
The Department of Health is to contact the chief executives of each health board to seek their assistance in resolving the accommodation problem. County and city managers will be asked "to make sure they facilitate in every way" the location of accommodation for asylum-seekers outside Dublin, the departmental spokesman said. He said the supply of suitable accommodation in the capital had been exhausted.
Yesterday's meeting involved officials from the Department of Environment, the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
As many as 100 asylum-seekers were left without a place to stay in Dublin on Tuesday night because officials from the Eastern Health Board could not find emergency accommodation. A spokeswoman for the board was unable say yesterday whether the people had been housed yet, but said families were being given priority.
Such was the backlog of applicants for accommodation after the bank holiday weekend that gardai were called on Tuesday to the Refugee Application Centre in Lower Mount Street to quell potential unrest among those queuing.
Over the last two weeks both families and single people, some newly arrived in the State and carrying their belongings, were told they could not be provided with accommodation on the first occasion they made contact with the authorities.
The proportion of asylum-seekers in the State who live in the greater Dublin area is as high as 85 per cent, with up to 98 per cent of applications for asylum being made in the Eastern Health Board area. Almost 2,000 people applied for asylum in August and September compared with 400 for June. In all, 4,446 asylum-seekers came to the State in the first nine months of the year, more than in the whole of last year.
About half have come from Romania and Nigeria. Poland, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine and Bulgaria have also provided significant numbers. It is expected that close to 7,000 people will have applied for asylum by the end of the year.
At present, the Eastern Health Board accommodates 6,000 asylum-seekers in private rented accommodation and 2,500 in emergency accommodation. The board is seeking accommodation in Kilkenny, Donegal and Cork.
The cost of providing accommodation and other welfare benefits to asylum-seekers is expected to rise to £35 million this year.
