Directors of IPAS centre operator shared €4.68m last year

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

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

The Dún 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 Government spent €1bn on accommodating IP applicants last year.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A spokeswoman for the Dept of Justice said today 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."

Meanwhile, the Government spend on accommodating IP applicants came to €1bn last year, after €280m was spent in the final quarter.

The €1bn spend was a 54% increase on the €651.75m paid out in 2023.

Last year, the Government spent a total of €1.84bn on accommodation for IP applicants and Ukrainians.

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