Refugees 'struggling to access basic services' in emergency accommodation, says council

The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has said asylum seekers are struggling to access basic services such as healthcare, when in the State system.

As mainstream Direct Provision centres reach peak capacity, and asylum seekers are being left in other "ad hoc" emergency accommodation, they are unable to access things such as schooling for their children and weekly allowances.

"Currently, 1068 people, including 177 children, are living in 30 [Direct Provision] premises across 14 counties, many of which are quite remote and isolated," said a spokeswoman from the IRC.

"A lot of the people that we are working with who live in emergency accommodation (not in the main centres) are struggling to access basic services including healthcare, schooling and the weekly allowance and are left in the dark about their basic rights and entitlements."

While many asylum seekers do not qualify to work under the new regulations that allow some to access the labour market, most must live off a weekly allowance of €29.80 per child or €38.80 per adult.

It is this allowance that the IRC said some asylum seekers in emergency accommodation are finding hard to access.

Emergency accommodation, in general, is an issue that the council is concerned with.

“Despite the promise of reform when the Reception Conditions Directive came into force last July, this year has seen a dramatic increase in ad hoc and wholly unsuitable 'emergency accommodation' as mainstream Direct Provision centres are full.

"We are particularly concerned that there is still no vulnerability assessment in place. There is a clear obligation on the State to assess each person within 30 days of seeking asylum to determine if they have special reception needs. Failure to create such an assessment is a clear breach of Irish and EU law," the spokeswoman for the IRC said.

NASC, the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre, based in Cork, said it was also aware of "serious issues" around access to schooling for children living in these emergency Direct Provision centres.

"With the beginning of the new academic year, there does not seem to be any indication that these issues have been resolved and children will be able to access their constitutional right to an education," said Fiona Finn, from NASC.