Modular units at barracks to be finished this year

Forty modular units are to replace tents at Columb Barracks, Mullingar, before the end of the year, Minister Roderic O’Gorman confirmed in the Dáil last week.

Speaking in response to a query from the Galway West independent TD, Catherine Connolly, the minister said: “The delivery of prefabricated and modular units on state land has been prioritised by my department as a vehicle that can quickly deliver accommodation to national standards. The first project under this programme is the delivery of 40 modular units to replace tents on the site of Columb Barracks in Mullingar.

“It is currently envisaged that the potential handover of this site will begin in mid-October and will be completed by December.”

Deputy Connolly had sought an “update on the status of the state-owned reception and integration centres due to accommodate people coming to our country. I ask this question a quarter of a century after direct provision was introduced as a temporary measure. A quarter of a century later, we have had a White Paper and the Day report but we still have no state-owned reception centres. Could the Minister give me an update?”

Minister O’Gorman said that over the last six months, his department had focused on progressing the new accommodation strategy he announced in March 2024, and “extensive engagement has taken place to identify and negotiate the use of state-owned sites, initially for emergency and tented accommodation and then for longer term solutions”.

“To date, five sites have been licensed with the department, including Crooksling, River Lodge in Wicklow, Heatherside, Thornton Hall and Lissywoolen in Athlone. Tented accommodation has been stood up on the Crooksling and River lodge site. Thornton Hall will see the same in the coming weeks and Athlone subsequently. We have also got the use of former Ukrainian accommodation in Ballyogan, south Dublin.

“The delivery of prefabricated and modular units on state land has been prioritised by my department as a vehicle that can quickly deliver accommodation to national standards. The first project under this programme is the delivery of 40 modular units to replace tents on the site of Columb Barracks in Mullingar. It is currently envisaged that the potential handover of this site will begin in mid-October and will be completed by December.

“Building on this work, a procurement process to form a framework for the delivery of modular prefabricated units on state land has been launched. We have also set out an expression of interest for people who want to sell the state large sites that can also be used for the accommodation of international protection applicants.

“It is a question of meeting an emergency response through tented accommodation on state-owned lands and following that up with a conversion of tented accommodation to prefabricated units, as a much more sustainable solution.

“We will also use additional capital funding my department has received from the Department of Public Expenditure under the review of the NDP to purchase sites that have been offered on the private market. There are larger institutional buildings that can be refurbished and used for international protection accommodation as well.”