Self-isolation centres for people in Direct Provision to open in Cork, Limerick and Dundalk

Three new self-isolation facilities for people living in the Direct Provision system will be opened by the end of the week.

The new centres will be in Cork, Limerick and Dundalk and are in addition to a further facility opened in Dublin on Monday. This brings the total self-isolation capacity to 299 rooms at this time across the four centres.

Residents staying in self-isolation facilities will have their own bedroom and their own bathroom.

Health and social care personnel will also be available on site.

The Department of Justice also announced a partnership with HSE and Safetynet for the introduction of a national clinical telephone service to provide public health advice to management of DP centres so they can better support their residents.

The latest measures are in addition to the 650 beds across the system to facilitate greater social distancing and isolation announced last week.

These are located in hotels in Dublin, Cork and Galway in a bid to take pressure off existing centres which house over 7,000 people - including 2,000 children.

In consultation with the HSE, a large number of transfers of residents to this new accommodation was completed over the weekend and a small number of additional transfers took place early this week.

The Department of Justice said the vast majority of these beds are located in twin rooms, accommodating two people.

It said that if any person is being accommodated in these locations based on an identified vulnerability such as old age or a medical condition, they have their own bedroom and their own bathroom to facilitate cocooning.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said officials were working hard to tackle the challenges posed by Covid-19 and that the Department "continue to augment facilities in the time ahead".

However, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) criticised the use of twin rooms as accommodation stating that they do not ensure physical distancing.

Last week, an open letter to the Government signed by more than 920 prominent lawyers, doctors, public health officials and academics claimed that the State may be in breach of Article 2 and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights unless it provides own-door accommodation to people living in Direct Provision.