New towns for migrant camps identified across the country as tents on Dublin's Grand Canal are evacuated for the third time this month.

The multi-agency operation is currently taking place at the South Canal, with buses waiting to take occupants to alternative accommodation.

A government statement this morning said a number of beds had become available at Citywest in recent days.

The statement read: “The Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with the support of a number of homeless charities, led awareness visits to the Grand Canal.

“Anyone identified as eligible for International Protection accommodation during one or more of these outreach visits has been offered accommodation at Citywest.”

The operation comes as the Irish Independent reports that migrants arriving in Dublin are to be transferred to a number of new camps across the country as part of an effort to reduce pressure on the city.

The government is also planning to open a new asylum processing center outside the capital.

The Irish Independent has seen details of a new coalition strategy to house hundreds of migrant men in centers in Kerry and Westmeath. Plans to develop the Thornton Hall site in Dublin are included in the plan.

The government has given the green light to proposals to create a new International Protection Office (IPO) outside Dublin and expand existing migrant camps.

A secret memo reveals the six new camps set to accommodate record levels of asylum seekers are Columb Barracks in Mullingar, Co Westmeath; Ballymullen in Tralee, County Kerry; a site in Athlone, Co Westmeath; and Thornton Hall, Ballyogan and Crooksling in Dublin.

More than 200 men will be housed in prefabricated units which will replace the tents at the old Mullingar military barracks.

Crooksling's capacity will be doubled from the current total of 180 beds by the end of next month.

Up to 400 men will be housed at a site in Athlone. With 60 Ukrainian refugees currently housed in Ballymullen, the Department of Absorption is considering moving them and housing asylum seekers there.

Around 100 people are expected to be accommodated at Ballyogan in the coming days, with capacity for 390 people at this site.

Asylum seekers will also be accommodated at Thornton Hall, north Dublin, in the coming weeks.

Small access and sanitation works are currently underway on the site.

Reporter documents migrant tents along Dublin's Grand Canal

The department is awaiting proposals from service providers for tent accommodation.

Authorities were also looking at a migrant site in Castlebar, but Mayo County Council has now said it is not available.

More than 10 sites are needed for additional migrant camps in the coming weeks to ensure “sufficient supplies”, it appears.

No other site has yet been proposed to the Integration Department.

A new international protection office is to be opened outside Dublin as the government wants to focus more on the capital.

Hundreds of additional immigration officers will also be hired in a significant increase in resources.

Coalition leaders have given the green light to Justice Minister Helen McEntee to purchase additional buildings for the IPO and the International Protection Appeal Tribunal (IPAT), as the Mount Street offices and Hanover Street are almost at capacity.

“The Department of Justice is considering additional office and processing facility requirements as we continue to scale up the processing of people seeking international protection,” a spokesperson for Ms McEntee said.

“No specific location has been identified at this stage.”

The additional 400 employees will be assigned to different stages of the immigration process with the aim of processing a growing number of international protection applications more quickly. The government expects up to 30,000 asylum seekers to arrive in the country this year.

The IPO staff will also increase from 490 to 620 and 200 more panel members will be added by next March. The IPAT will also receive 17 additional members in court.

A senior government source said a “significant further increase in resources” had been deemed essential by the Ministry of Justice to deal with the current record figures and expected migrant numbers.

The projected number of asylum seekers “exceeded” the capacity of the immigration processing system and the number of cases processed by the government increased significantly.

This is why it would be necessary to invest at “every stage” of the international protection system, the source said.

People who apply to work for the IPO will be interviewed remotely, initially on a pilot basis this week.

The laws passed before the summer will also expand the qualification criteria for IPAT panel members, which will aim to further increase the capacity of the system.

Other measures aimed at speeding up the processing of requests are being considered by the Ministry of Justice.

Ms McEntee is expected to make a decision on the matter by the end of next month as a consultation process is underway.

The government also wants to step up removals and expulsions of people who have failed to apply for asylum.

Significant Garda resources will be freed up to focus on migrant deportations.

This will be done by further increasing the authorized staff of the Immigration Service Delivery Registration Unit from 71 to 127 by next year.

Authorized repatriation unit personnel are also to increase from 72 to 199 by next year.

The number of eviction orders issued so far this year has increased by 51% compared to the same period last year and forced evictions have increased by 178%.

Voluntary returns, where people who have been refused asylum leave Ireland of their own accord, have increased by 128% compared to the same period last year.

The government has already fast-tracked the processing of applications from a number of different countries, including the one with the most applicants – which is currently Nigeria – and has designated 10 countries as “safe countries of origin”. .

Applicants who have status in other European countries have also seen the processing of their asylum application accelerated.

The number of applications has halved from the original eight countries designated as “safe.”