Staff of the Department of Justice said they were frightened of being trapped in their building if an encampment of tents set up by asylum seekers ended up catching fire.
In a series of pleas to bosses, civil servants wrote of overflowing bins, appalling sanitary conditions, and being unable to open their windows.
It said staff were in “a heightened state of anxious alert” and at increased risk of burnout as tents were “pressed right up close to windows” and with people dressing and undressing right in front of them.
Feedback gathered from employees of the International Protection Office (IPO) – which manages asylum applications – said the Mount Street encampment in Dublin was a “recipe for disaster”.
It said: “All of the … agencies with any level of involvement have shown themselves to be completely unwilling to take any measures – presumably as a result of concern about the negative media coverage that would attend any direct engagement.”
The views of IPO staff were collated in the period leading up to final removal of the camp in May with workers especially worried about what the summer would bring.
One person wrote: “I no longer feel safe in my workplace. I don’t feel safe travelling to work, I don’t feel safe whilst I am here in work, and I don’t feel safe leaving and going home.”
Asked about the records, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said: “The well-being of both staff of the IPO and applicants was the paramount concern for the department in what was a difficult situation for all concerned.
“A multi-agency operation resulted in the removal of the encampment of tents in recent months. The IPO continues to liaise with relevant agencies including An Garda Síochána and Dublin City Council where necessary to maintain health and safety in the environs of the IPO.”