LOCALS IN TRAMORE in Co Waterford are planning a ‘day of action’ calling for families who live in a Direct Provision centre in the town to be allowed to stay in the area.
Fourteen families have been told they need to leave the Ocean View House Direct Provision Centre in the next two weeks.
Many of them have lived in Tramore for years and their children attend local schools. These people are legally allowed to stay in Ireland – they have either been granted leave-to-remain or refugee status.
The families in Tramore are being supported by members of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) in Waterford.
“The families are integrated into the Waterford community, with the children attending local schools, involved in clubs and the adults working in jobs locally,” a spokesperson for CATU Waterford said.
“Many of these families have received no further information on where they are to go, or be moved to, or how they are to maintain the crucial employment, education, health and social networks they depend on.”
The spokesperson said the families have received references from schools, community groups, workplaces and churches “showing what a huge loss they will be to the Tramore community”.
CATU Waterford said it has shared these references with the International Protection Accommodation Services (Ipas).
The group is planning a demonstration in Tramore on Sunday afternoon, calling for “a guarantee that the families will not be evicted until they are safely housed locally”.
In recent months, the families in Tramore received letters from Ipas saying they need to leave the centre in July.
Some people were originally told they needed to leave the Tramore centre by 5 July, last Friday, but have since been told they have until 18 July, next Thursday, to leave. Others have been given a deadline of 26 July.
The letters, seen by The Journal, state:
As you will no doubt appreciate, we do not have the capacity to continue to accommodate persons once they have received status to remain in Ireland.
The letter informs the residents that they need to move out “to ensure there is sufficient space in Ipas accommodation centres to meet our legal obligation of housing those people still in the process of seeking International Protection”.
The people in question will no longer have access to specific supports from the State, but may be entitled to the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or other supports from their local authority.
Some families were told they would be moved to temporary emergency accommodation in Clonmel in Co Tipperary if they cannot find somewhere else to live. Others have not yet been offered temporary emergency accommodation.
Hundreds of people with international protection status have been informed they need to move out of their accommodation in various parts of the country in recent months, as the Government struggles to house new applicants.
However, rising rental costs and a lack of housing supply have made it difficult for people to find alternative accommodation.
A report published by the ESRI last month found that almost 6,000 people with IP status were struggling to leave Ipas accommodation and move into mainstream housing.
One mother who lives at the Ocean View accommodation centre told The Journal she is devastated about having to move.
“I feel empty, my heart is torn,” she said.
Zola* came to Ireland in 2018 and has refugee status since 2022. She has been looking for private rented accommodation for some time, but has been unsuccessful.
She and her son have lived in Tramore for five years. She works part-time in a care centre and he attends a local school.
Her son is a promising footballer and plays with the local club. He did his Junior Cert exams last month, but found it hard to concerntrate.
Zola told us:
He is so depressed. He keeps asking me, ‘What is going to happen to us?’
“The worst part of it is that they’re waiting to hear something concrete from us. You know, a child always depends on a parent. But I don’t know what to tell him.”
Zola is entitled to support under the HAP scheme, and could pay the rest of the rent with her own wages.
She has gone to several viewings but has not been offered anywhere to rent. She said a number of landlords have told her they do not accept HAP.
Landlords and agents are not legally required to rent to a person getting HAP. However, they are not allowed to refuse to rent to someone just because they receive HAP.
Michael, one of the CATU Waterford members, said people with IP status often have to contend with “racism and discrimination” when trying to find a place to rent.
He is aware of multiple cases in different counties where people have been told by landlords that they do not accept HAP.
Michael said 14 families in the Tramore centre are affected, but that CATU networks in other counties are helping dozens of other families.
He said it is unfair that some families who have spent years living in an area, working or going to school and making friends, will have to move to another county to avail of emergency accommodation there.
Michael said some people in Cork were offered accommodation in Dublin.
“You have refugees and asylum seekers in Dublin now living on the streets in tents, and then you have people in Cork being told there is space in Dublin and being sent to Dublin. That doesn’t really add up,” he said.
Families in different counties have tried to find alternative accommodation, but many have been unsuccessful to date.
“If you’re telling someone to move on, when there’s a housing crisis and there’s no accommodation, where are they going to go?,” Michael said.
“No one wants to be in Direct Provision, it’s a terrible system.
It’s a bit ridiculous that we have to fight for people to stay in substandard accommodation. This kind of shows the extent of the housing crisis of the State.
“Everyone that I’ve talked to in Direct Provision, they want to move out. They go to viewings. I have talked to families in Cork who have gone to viewings, up to Limerick, up to Clare, and they take the bus overnight and stay in the bus station.”
Michael said the event in Tramore on Sunday, which will begin at 2pm, is “about getting the community together, showing solidarity and support to the residents, showing them that they’re not alone, they have a community behind them who will back them up”.
Ipas falls under the remit of the Department of Integration.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson told The Journal the department is currently providing accommodation to over 31,000 people who have applied for international protection, of whom 5,700 have been granted permission to remain in Ireland.
“At the same time, there is currently a shortfall of accommodation for newly arrived IP applicants,” they added.
“Where a person receives a grant of status or permission to remain, the department no longer has a legal requirement to provide accommodation to them, as those with status have the same housing entitlements as Irish citizens.
“Nonetheless, Ipas has continued to provide accommodation until residents are in a position to source accommodation independently,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
They noted that all people with IP status or permission to remain in Ireland are supported to register with a local authority and, if required, avail of HAP to secure alternative accommodation.
“Given the change in legal status, Ipas works with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to support people in securing alternative accommodation.
“A specific transition team works in collaboration with Depaul Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust, and Local Authorities to support residents with status to exit Ipas accommodation.”
The spokesperson added that when a person cannot secure independent accommodation by the defined date, Ipas “will provide temporary, emergency accommodation”.
*Name changed for privacy reasons
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