Expert group to make ‘long-term’ recommendations on Direct Provision by year end

The Department of Justice says it expects to receive recommendations on how the Direct Provision system can be developed in the long-term before the end of this year.

The Department was responding to a report published by Ombudsman Peter Tyndall today, which dubbed the current two-tier accommodation system available to asylum seekers as “unsuitable”.

The Ombudsman, which dealt with 168 complaints about Direct Provision last year, said the Covid-19 crisis underscored the “unsuitability” of accommodation for asylum seekers.

At the beginning of this year 1,524 people were living in emergency hotels, guesthouses, and bed and breakfasts in 37 different locations across the country, which the Ombudsman said was unacceptable and inappropriate.

Responding to the issues raised in the Ombudsman’s report, the Department confirmed that an independent group of experts led by Dr Catherine Day, former Secretary General of the European Commission, will make recommendations to government on the development of a “long-term approach” for the Direct Provision system of support for asylum seekers.

The group, which is examining good practice in other European countries, is expected to make recommendations to government before the year end.

The Covid-19 outbreak brought Direct Provision accommodation centres, where many asylum seekers share living and communal space, into sharper focus, the Ombudsman said in his report.

In response to the outbreak the Department of Justice opened new accommodation and relocated more than 600 residents to ensure that no more than three single people were sharing a room. The Department said it intends to continue this policy when the crisis is over.

While the Ombudsman acknowledged recent improvements to the Direct Provision system, including self-catering independent living, access to employment, and agreed national standards for accommodation centres, the Department of Justice accepted there was more to do.

“We recognise that our programme of improvements must be continuous and that there is more for us to do. This includes our ongoing efforts to reduce the number of residents in emergency accommodation as well as the length of time that residents spend in emergency accommodation,” the Department said in a statement.

The Department added that efforts are being made to relocate more than 1,000 people, who have been granted asylum and continue to reside in Direct Provision accommodation, which would help to alleviate capacity issues and the need for emergency accommodation.

“Much of our use of emergency accommodation could be eliminated if the more than 1,000 people who have been granted permission to remain in the State but continue to reside in Direct Provision accommodation could relocate into mainstream accommodation,” the Department said.

“We are working with Local Authorities and the City and County Managers Association to assist residents with this transition. We have also provided funding to the Peter McVerry Trust and DePaul Ireland as part of this process,” it added.

The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) said it was time the government listened to experts and ended the Direct Provision system.

"The Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the Faculty of Paediatrics at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland are among bodies who've recently called for the Irish government to end Direct Provision. It is time for the Irish government to start listening to the experts since it has ignored the voices of asylum seekers in the past 20 years of Direct Provision," Bulelani Mfaco, from MASI, said.