Chamber boss says Limerick city centre 'being pushed in the wrong direction' by Ipas centres

LIMERICK Chamber boss Michelle Gallagher has warned the city centre is being "pushed in the wrong direction" by the granting of permission for Ipas centres.

She has warned if planning permission continues to be granted in the same manner, "we are trading our city's sustainably planned future for highly-lucrative short-term contracts."

"The policy must be realigned before irreversible damage is done," said the chief executive of Limerick Chamber, which is the largest business representative body in the region.

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As things stand, accommodation providers who wish to open centres for asylum seekers can seek what is known as a 'section five' declaration from the local authority.

If these are granted, it means no planning process needs to be gone through.

Decisions like these are often sought to avoid the delays associated with submitting formal planning applications, with this planning process used to open a number of International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas) centres across the country.

A number of buildings are in use as Ipas centres in the city centre, and last month, Limerick Live revealed the former Barrington's Hospital was being looked at for this purpose too.

Now, Limerick Chamber wants the Government to reform how Ipas facilities are delivered in cities, in particular around the planning exemption, which means buildings can open without the general public having a say in their use.

The current approach, Ms Gallagher says is: "financially distorting, strategically misaligned, and socially unsustainable."

She contacted Housing Minister James Browne and Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan with her concerns that these exemptions are creating "a two-tier planning system, and incentivising short-term institutional use of prime city centre buildings over long-term housing, education, or commercial projects."

"We are seeing critical development sites diverted from sustainable residential or enterprise use toward high-yield institutional accommodation, because Government contracts are simply too lucrative to compete with. This is not planning, it’s policy failure," she warned.

By securing planning exemptions, often developments like these bypass the local development plan, which dictates what can be built and where.

The business group says the high rates paid under Ipas contracts have led to "distortion" of the property market, making buildings viable only as temporary accommodation.

"This is crowding out residential and commercial developers and deterring long-term investment," they warned.

"While traditional developers face rigorous planning conditions, costs, and community obligations, Ipas accommodation providers can sidestep these entirely, facing lower risk and receiving higher return," Ms Gallagher added.

It's also led to unbalanced social service provision, with the chamber chief executive adding: "Limerick’s city centre already hosts a high concentration of social services, and clustering more Ipas centres in the same locations risks overburdening infrastructure and deepening urban inequality."

"This is a textbook example of short-term thinking producing long-term entrenched planning challenges," she continued.

"You cannot regenerate a city centre by saturating it with temporary profit driven accommodation while sidelining permanent housing, students, families and commercial activity."

As a result of this Limerick Chamber has issued four demands to government.

One is to end planning exemptions for Ipas accommodation, and subject all developments to the full planning process - giving the public a chance to have their say.

They wants to see a balanced regional and local dispersal policy to avoid over-concentration in vulnerable city areas.

The organisation also wants the reform of Ipas procurement contracts to avoid "distorting" the local housing market and blocking sustainable development.

Local authorities and business stakeholders should also be consulted before deciding on future Ipas sites.

The Chamber is calling on Government to act swiftly, warning that failure to do so risks undoing years of regeneration efforts and compromising the strategic goals of national and regional policies such as Housing for All, the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund, National Planning Framework and the Limerick 2030 Economic and Spatial Plan.