Asylum seeker tents at Leeson St double since Friday

Close to 30 tents have been pitched at Leeson Street Bridge, on the pavement there, close to the Grand Canal.

The encampment there has doubled in size since Friday.

On Friday, the latest figures from the Department of Integration revealed there are 1,966 international protection applicants without accommodation.

The Irish Refugee Council has described this as a “grim record”.

The charity advocating for refugees says this is “the highest ever and likely to breach 2000 in coming days.”

It said the Government’s response was inadequate and that kilometres of what it called “ugly fencing” would not solve this issue.

The total number of eligible male International Protection Applicants who have arrived in the State since early December last year is 3,669. The Government figures show 366 have been offered accommodation after availability and vulnerability triage.

A total of 3,303 people have received payment in lieu of accommodation with 1,337 subsequently offered accommodation.

The payment given to people without accommodation is a €75 temporary increase to their €38.80 per week Daily Expense Allowance.

The next figures are set to be published by the Department on Tuesday.

This new encampment is the largest to emerge since a number of tents were moved on from the Grand Canal at the end of last month.

Since then a small number of tents have been moved on from surrounding parks and green areas across Dublin whilst many more international protection applicants are reported to have been staying in various temporary accommodation including in hostels, on sofas and in churches or mosques, or to be sleeping rough in other areas of Dublin city, as well as in other cities and towns.