Number of registered tourist beds used to house asylum seekers down 50% since 2023

Seán McCárthaigh

The number of registered tourist beds taken out of use to house international protection applicants and refugees from Ukraine has fallen by 50 per cent since the summer of 2023, according to Fáilte Ireland.

New figures published by the national tourism development authority show a total of 54,460 beds were under State contract in November 2025 – an annual decrease of approximately 11,000 or 17 per cent.

Approximately a quarter of contracted beds are with Failte Ireland-registered tourist accommodation providers.

They amounted to 12,884 last November – down almost 5,000 in the space of 12 months.

The remainder – a total of 41,576 beds – are in non-registered properties with Fáilte Ireland estimating that up to 20,800 of those would normally be used to provide tourist accommodation.

However, a new report by Fáilte Ireland estimates that 5 per cent of all registered tourism bed stock still remains under State contract, although it is down from the peak of 13 per cent in the summer of 2023.

The proportion of tourist beds not available for their traditional use is also still over 10 per cent in four counties – Wicklow (13 per cent); Louth (11 per cent); Clare (11 per cent) and Meath (10 per cent).

The figure was as high as 33 per cent – one third of all tourist beds – in Co Clare at one stage.

The share in other key counties for tourism includes Cork (8 per cent); Mayo (6 per cent); Dublin (5 per cent), Kerry (4 per cent), and Galway (3 per cent).

No Fáilte Ireland registered accommodation providers are under contract in Laois, Longford, and Roscommon.

“For every Fáilte Ireland registered bed under contract, there is one or more beds contracted in unregistered tourism relevant sites,” the report stated.

It added: “This underlines the value of having a comprehensive register of all tourism accommodation.”

The proportion of registered tourist beds under State contract has now fallen steadily since June 2023.

At one stage, almost 84,500 beds were contracted by State authorities to house international protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees.

As a result of the downward trend in the number of tourist beds under State contract, Fáilte Ireland said last year that the loss of tourist beds was “no longer critical.”

Fáilte Ireland had previously estimated that the economic impact of the displaced bed stock on the tourism industry could be as high as €1.1 billion annually.

The ongoing reduction in the number of tourist beds under contract is expected to be welcomed by tourism businesses, which had expressed concern about the Government being over-reliant on the tourism sector for housing refugees and international protection applicants.

A national mandatory registration system for all short-term lets is due to be launched in May, requiring properties used for tourist accommodation advertised on platforms like Airbnb to be registered with Fáilte Ireland.

Such platforms will also be obliged to only advertise properties that have a valid registration number from Fáilte Ireland.

The Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill will also place restrictions on short-term lets in towns with a population of 20,000 or more.