Only 11 out of 135 inspections of direct provision centres completed

Residents of the Skellig Star Direct Provision Centre in Cahersiveen. File picture: Alan Landers

Less than 10% of planned inspections of direct provision centres have been completed this year, prompting calls for the government to proceed with plans to transfer inspections to an independent agency.

The Department of Justice and Equality confirmed to the Irish Examiner that just 11 out of 135 planned inspections have been carried out by its staff and private contractor, QTS, so far this year - seven out of 90 planned Departmental inspections and four out of 45 planned QTS inspections.