Last year, two executives from one of the largest operators in the field of housing for applicants for international protection (IP) shared a jackpot of 4.68 million euros, which included salaries and pension contributions.
During the second half of last year, Igo Cafe Ltd, trading as IGO Emergency Management Services, received €29.9 million (including VAT) in government payments for hosting intellectual property rights applicants.
The Dun Laoghaire-based firm is owned equally by directors Anne Murphy and Christina Andries; they shared €4.68m in fees and pension contributions in 2024.
Fresh accounts from Igo Cafe Ltd show they shared €3.779m in wages and an additional €910,000 in pension contributions.
If these 3.779 million euros were divided equally, each would receive 1.889 million euros, which corresponds to an average weekly salary of 36,346 euros for each.
The sum of 3.77 million euros is almost three times more than the 1.3 million euros the couple received in 2023.
According to the financial statements, the company recorded a profit after tax of 1.3 million euros last year, up 48.5% compared to a profit after tax of 882,126 euros in 2023.
Last year, the number of employees increased from 31 to 77. Accumulated profit at the end of December was 2.28 million euros, and cash was 1.24 million euros.
Cash amounted to €1.24 million, compared to just €1.158 million in cash the company had at the end of 2019.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said IGO Emergency Management Services “is the provider of facilities management services at four International Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation centres.”
She added: “The department does not routinely disclose details of the locations of IPAS accommodation centres or their occupancy rates.”
“While specific contractual agreements for IPAS centres are confidential and considered commercially sensitive, the Department publishes quarterly reports of all payments to service providers in excess of €20,000, which include IPAS hosting contracts for this and other providers.
She noted that these reports are publicly available on the Internet.
She clarified: “IGO Emergency Management Services is not a provider of facility management services for the Temporary Protection Programme in Ukraine.”
Last year, the government's total costs for hosting intellectual property rights applicants and Ukrainians amounted to €1.84 billion.
These costs are equivalent to a daily average cost of €5 million during 2024.
The cost of maintaining intellectual property rights applicants last year amounted to €1 billion, after payments of €280 million in the final quarter.
The €1 billion in expenses is 54% higher than the €651.75 million paid in 2023.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
