More people have applied for international protection in Ireland in the first five months of this year than had been expected for the entirety of 2022.

Applicants have exceeded predictions by almost 30%, with 4,500 people applying for protection since January 1 in comparison to an estimated 3,500.

It is also worth noting that the number of people applying for asylum has skyrocketed, with more than 1,450 people applying in the last month, an average of 360 per week.

Photo by Vukasin Nedeljkovic.

The increase in applications is resulting in “accommodation pressures,” according to the Department of Children, which has responsibility for the international protection accommodation service (IPAS), otherwise known as direct provision.

These figures are contained in a briefing note produced by the department ahead of its appearance at the Public Accounts Committee today.

It highlights that the direct provision budget for accommodation for 2022 has increased by 6%, or €13m, from last year to just under €231m.

Although such figures do not include refugees from the war in Ukraine, arriving in Ireland back in February.

More than 31,000 Ukrainians had arrived in Ireland this year, with 23,894 of them seeking accommodation from IPAS.

Department of Children secretary-general Kevin McCarthy is expected to tell the committee that the Ukrainian war has “impacted tremendously” on the work of the department over the past three months.

As a result of huge figures that are continuously rising, the elimination of the direct provision system is one of the key current targets for the Department of Children.