Clarification sought on IPAS planning at Laois hotel
Laois County Council has asked An Coimisiún Pleanála to make a determination
Laois County Council has sought clarification from An Coimisiún Pleanála on whether or not a hotel in Portarlington needs planning permission for use as an IPAS centre.
The Council referred the case about the East End Hotel in Portarlington to An Coimisiún Pleanála(ACP) on Monday, July 14.
Laois County Council is asking An Coimisiún Pleanála to determine if “the use of the East End Hotel, Portarlington, Laois to facilitate temporary accommodation of International Protection Applicants (Protected Persons) is or is not exempted development.”
The clarification was sought following correspondence from Nera Investments Ltd, who are based in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan along with Armagh based Genesis Planning on behalf of Nera. Genesis state that the plans involve no material change to the interior or exterior of the protected building.
Laois County Council has asked An Coimisiún Pleanála to make a determination on five specific issues around the planning at the hotel.
Among the questions they asked is the East End Hotel in Portalington currently being used as a hotel? They also asked about the protected structure status of the hotel.
“Is an Architectural Heritage Impact Assessment required before a determination can be made on the development completed to date?" the Council stated.
They also asked whether the issue can be dealt with solely in terms of whether or not it needs planning, or would the protected structure status also have to be considered.
An Coimisiún Pleanála is due to make a decision on the matter by November 17, 2025.
In October of 2024, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, who then oversaw the IPAS system, confirmed that the East End Hotel no longer had a contract for IPAS.
The Leinster Express/Laois Live asked the Department of Justice, who are looking after IPAS since May 2025, when IPAS planning permission became a requirement and whether a building without the specific planning permission could be used for IPAS.
They said: “All offers of international protection accommodation are reviewed by the Department under a standardised appraisal procedure. Factors in the appraisal of international protection accommodation include the site and its potential, the value for money it offers, planning matters and any works required to meet the required standards. Consideration is also given to the location regarding access to services, resident welfare, health and wellbeing, and the current level of need in the sector.”
“Applications for planning permission are a matter for the relevant local authority and the property owner or provider,” the Department stated.
Meanwhile, the Government has published its ‘Comprehensive Strategy for International Protection Applicants' which sets out a planned move away from the use of private accommodation for IPAS.
“It is the intention of this new Strategy to end the use of unsuitable accommodation options currently relied upon, such as the sole hotel remaining in a given town. The degree of control given to the State by the creation of core supply of State-owned accommodation, of both emergency and permanent options, will increase as supply is delivered, re-establishing strategic direction over the accommodation type, location and dispersal pattern,” it states.
According to the document, “Once sufficient State owned accommodation has been delivered over the coming years, and emergency accommodation reduced substantially, the Government may, at that point, seek to reduce further the proportion of remaining permanent accommodation delivered by commercial providers and move to a fully or predominately State owned system.”