Directors at booming asylum seeker accommodation firm share €4.68m jackpot in 2024

Two directors at one of the biggest operators in the International Protection (IP) applicant accommodation sector last year shared a €4.68 million jackpot in pay and pension contributions.

In the second half alone of last year, Igo Cafe Ltd trading as IGO Emergency Management Services received €29.9 million (incl VAT) in State payments for accommodating IP applicants.

The Dun Laoghaire based company is co-owned by directors, Ann Murphy and Cristina Andries on a 50/50 basis and in 2024, the two shared €4.68m in remuneration and pension contributions.

The new accounts for Igo Cafe Ltd show that the two shared €3.779 million in pay and an additional €910,000 in pension contributions.

If evenly split, the €3.779 million works at €1.889 million each for 2024 which equates to average pay of €36,346 per week for each.

The €3.77 million in pay is almost three times the €1.3 million the pair shared in pay in 2023.

The accounts show that the company recorded post tax profits of €1.3 million last year which was a 48.5 per cent increase on the post tax profits of €882,126 in 2023.

Numbers employed increased from 31 to 77 last year. Accumulated profits at the end of December stood at €2.28 million as cash funds totalled €1.24 million.

The cash funds of €1.24 million compared to only €1,158 in cash in the company at the end of 2019.

A spokeswoman for the Dept of Justice said that IGO Emergency Management Services "are a facilities management provider at four International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) accommodation centres".

She said: “The Department does not routinely provide details of IPAS Accommodation Centre locations or occupancy levels.”

“While detailed contractual arrangements for IPAS centres are confidential and commercially sensitive, the Department publishes quarterly reports on all payments to service providers over €20,000, which include IPAS accommodation contracts for this and other providers

She said that these reports are publicly available online.

She said: “IGO Emergency Management Services are not a facilities management provider for Ukraine Temporary Protection scheme."

Last year, the overall Government spend on accommodation for IP applicants and Ukrainians totalled €1.84 billion.

The outlay equates to a daily average spend of €5 million across 2024.

The spend on accommodating IP applicants was €1 billion last year after paying out €280 million in the final quarter.

The €1 billion spend was a 54 per cent increase on the €651.75 million paid out in 2023.