White paper on direct provision delayed until next week

Blessing Edo was assisted to move out of direct provision by Depaul.

A long-awaited white paper on direct Provision will not go to Cabinet until next week.

The paper was due early this month, but will now wait until next week — the last Cabinet meeting of February.

A spokesperson for Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman confirmed that the document would not be ready for this week's meeting.

The programme for government commits to ending the system and a report published in October recommended moving asylum seekers into "own door" accommodation and granting eligibility for driving licenses and social welfare.

The expert report by Dr Catherine Day recommends ending direct provision "no later" than 2023.

The Government had committed to using the recommendations from the Day Report to produce a white paper by the end of 2020, but Mr O'Gorman had said he had told NGOs in the area before Christmas that it would be delayed in order to "take the extra couple of weeks to get it right".

Meanwhile, Depaul, a charity which provides support to people at risk of homelessness, says that in 2020 they helped more than 440 people exit direct provision centres, including 246 adults and 196 children.

The group provides in-reach support to a number of direct provision centres across Ireland, working with individuals and families who have received legal status to remain in the country.

Depaul’s CEO David Carroll said they were delighted to support so many people to exit direct provision during 2020.

“It really is an incredible achievement given the challenges we have all faced. Despite all this, over 400 people are now integrating into communities all across Ireland and that is a real positive outcome,” Mr Carroll said.

With the assistance of Depaul, Blessing Edo moved out of direct provision with her children, and is looking toward the future.

 “We are settled now and things are going good. In the future I would like to go back to school.”