A NEW DIRECT Provision centre will accommodate up to 100 asylum-seekers in a former hotel in Co Wexford, the Department of Justice has announced.

The centre will be located at the former Rosslare Port Lodge Hotel. It will replace the current local emergency accommodation which is housing asylum seekers at Hotel Rosslare.

The property was offered to the department via a public procurement competition last year.

In line with the new standards for Direct Provision being rolled out across the State, the centre will provide ‘independent living’ facilities to residents where they will have their own cooking facilities and an onsite food hall where they can get their groceries via a cashless system.

Asylum seekers who have been living in Hotel Rosslare on a temporary basis will be transferred to the new dedicated accommodation centre in the coming weeks. The remaining residents will move in on a phased basis.

The total capacity of the centre will be around 100 people.

Meeting tomorrow 

A spokesperson said the department is “endeavouring to provide the local community with as much information as possible”.

A meeting between department officials and local representatives will take place tomorrow to discuss what supports will be in place to facilitate the new accommodation centre and its residents.

“In line with successful models around the country, a ‘Friends of the Centre’ group will be established,” the spokesperson noted.

The centre will be managed by Codelix Ltd. In addition to the independent living arrangements, the centre contains a dining area, recreational spaces and an onsite laundry facility.

The spokesperson added that asylums seekers “may access a range of State services and supports including healthcare, education, childcare etc, on the same basis as everyone else”.

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Adults living in Direct Provision centres receive a weekly allowance of €38.80 and children receive €29.80 per week.

The department has been struggling to secure premises to accommodate asylum seekers following protests and arson attacks. 

In October, a tender for a Direct Provision centre in Oughterard in Co Galway was withdrawn amid local protests.

The following month, a group that was protesting against plans to house asylum seekers in an apartment complex in Co Leitrim stood down their protest after the owners of the complex in Ballinamore secured a High Court injunction preventing protesters interfering with works to complete the structure.

Arson attacks occurred in 2018 and 2019 at hotels due to become accommodation centres in Moville, Co Donegal, and Rooskey on the Roscommon-Leitrim border. Most centres are at capacity and since September 2018 international protection applicants have been placed in hotels and B&Bs around the country.