Private firms were paid over €300 million for running direct provision centres in the past three years.
It cost the state over €175 million last year, €129 million in 2019, and €78 million in 2018.
Nearly 5,300 asylum-seekers and refugees are currently living in 46 direct provision centres across the country.
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The government says the system will be abolished by 2024, but Nick Henderson, from the Irish Refugee Council, doubts that:
