Tipperary TD raises concerns over rising costs of housing asylum seekers at Dundrum House

Fine Gael's Michael Murphy estimates that the state could be paying up to 16 million euros over the next two years to the company operating the IPAS accommodation centre at the former Tipperary hotel.

Originally, Dundrum House was a well-known hotel located in Dundrum, in County Tipperary. It was historically popular as a countryside hotel with a golf course and extensive grounds. The property was also a destination for events and conferences.

However, like many businesses in the hospitality industry, it faced financial difficulties in the wake of Ireland's economic crash in the late 2000s. By the early 2010s, the hotel was struggling and ultimately closed.

The former Dundrum House Hotel was repurposed to house asylum seekers under a contract with the Irish government, transforming the property into an accommodation center.

Today there are many ongoing legal proceedings related to the ownership of the venue, the liquidators of the parent company that owns the site, and planning issues.

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Deputy Murphy has stated that the PAC should be investigating the substantial sums of money being paid out under questionable circumstances:

"On average, for each IPAS resident that the contract is worth about 88 euros a day. So if it’s at maximum capacity, you can do the maths. It’s the equivalent of 16 million over two years. So I think there’s real merit in getting this contract, all these IPAS contracts into the Public Accounts Committee for real proper scrutiny."