The decision by Sean Lyons to withdraw his firm’s tender for a direct provision centre for Oughterard was a rare business setback for the Co Wicklow man.

Over the past decade and more, Mr Lyons, through his firms, has generated millions of euro in revenues from the operation of direct provision centres for asylum seekers in Dublin and Co Laois.

These are boom times for direct provision centre operators, as the Government struggles to cope with the demands placed by the 53pc upsurge in people claiming asylum for the first nine months of this year.

Currently, the 38 existing direct provision centres are full and there are an additional 1,389 people in 34 emergency accommodation centres where it is costing the Department of Justice’s Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) on average €100 per person, per night to accommodate.

Last year, expenditure on direct provision reached €78m, which was at its highest level since 2010.

And this is set to exceed €120m this year – a 50pc increase on 2018.

Recently filed accounts show that Mr Lyons’s Fazyard Ltd enjoyed a lucrative year in 2018 where its accumulated profits increased by €1.46m to €7m.

Fazyard has operated the largest direct provision centre at Clondalkin Towers, accommodating 248 for more than a decade and between 2006 and 2018, the State has paid the firm and a sister firm Old George Ltd more than €40m.

Last year Fazyard received €5.5m in fees from the RIA and Mr Lyons’s business was one of eight direct provision businesses in 2018 to receive fees in excess of €5m from the State.

Mr Lyons’s appearance on Galway Bay FM this week was notable, as it’s rare for any direct provision operator to make any public utterances.

And many also go to the trouble of giving their company unlimited status – thereby putting the profits they are making beyond public scrutiny.

These include Phelim and Elizabeth McCloskey’s Mosney.

The firm caters for 600 asylum seekers in Co Meath, and the €8.6m it received last year brings to €136m the company has received from the State between 2002 and 2018 for its direct provision service.

Along with Mosney, Millstreet Equestrian Services, which provides accommodation for more than 500 asylum seekers in Cork and Waterford, received payments of €6.53m in 2018.

Between 2000 and 2018, Millstreet Equestrian Services has received €82.5m in fees from the State.

Operated by Seamus and Michael Gillen, Bridgestock caters for around 500 asylum seekers in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, and Sligo town, and the €5.8m received last year brings to €97m the total the firm has received in payments between 2000 and 2018.

One other business received payments in excess of €7m in 2018 where Alan Hyde’s Barlow Group received fees of €7.5m and the group accommodates asylum seekers across Cork and Waterford.

Aramark’s Campbell Catering Ltd last year received €5.89m for operating State-owned direct provision centres at Knockalisheen, Co Clare, Co Cork and Co Meath where more than 825 asylum seekers are accommodated.

The housing crisis has ensured that there are currently 855 people with permission to remain in the country but are staying in the direct provision system because of the difficulty of securing housing.

The pressure on the system is resulting in the RIA currently spending approximately €500,000 per week on emergency accommodation, with about €8m being spent on emergency accommodation in 2019 up until the end of June.

In 2018, the average daily rate across all commercial accommodation centres was €35.50 per day and this rises to €44 per head, per night for independent living centres.

In a written Dáil reply this week, Minister for State at the Department of Justice David Stanton said that the rates were “very competitive and importantly offer value for money for the taxpayer”.

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