Direct provision complaints down in 2020 due to Covid restrictions, says ombudsman

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall said visiting centres and meeting residents was the best way to field complaints and assess standards. File picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The number of complaints about the direct provision system fell significantly in 2020 primarily due to Covid-19 restrictions, the ombudsman has confirmed.

The pandemic not only highlighted the unsuitability of many of the direct provision centres but also impacted on the ombudsman’s ability to visit centres and meet with residents.

In his latest update on direct provision, Ombudsman Peter Tyndall confirms he received 61 complaints last year compared to 168 in 2019, with issues around Covid-19, and transfers to other centres or isolation facilities to the fore.

While the ombudsman’s office tried alternatives, such as video conferencing, Mr Tyndall told the Irish Examiner that visiting centres and meeting residents was the best way to field complaints and assess standards.

“The number of complaints is down considerably because we had to curtail our outreach programme; we couldn’t visit centres and that’s our main source of complaints,” Mr Tyndall said.

“We are trying to find a way to safely recommence our outreach programme and exploring all of the options available to us,” he said, adding that he hoped this would happen by autumn if not before.

Transfers between centres were a big issue last year, as well as Covid-19 and the need for hundreds of residents to relocate to alternative accommodation to support social and physical distancing.

“People were concerned about moving to the isolation facility at Citywest and between centres. There were concerns about the capacity of centres to deal with Covid and socially distancing and so on,” Mr Tyndall said.

Complaints ranged from a lack of notice to relocate, the location of centres people were being moved to, social distancing on buses and the wearing of masks, as well as a small number of concerns over alleged non-compliances with Covid restrictions in some centres.

A total of 25 complaints were also made about requests to transfer to other direct provision centres last year, in particular as applicants were told that all transfers were suspended for public health reasons. 

In his report — published today — the ombudsman said all requests should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Aside from accommodation, other changes such as the right to work had already made an “enormous difference” and moves were now being made to enable asylum seekers to obtain a driving licence and open a bank account, the ombudsman said.

The move towards more facilities with self-catering was also making a difference, he added: “I was struck by children who had never seen their parents prepare a meal because they were in direct provision. That’s gradually changing and has made a big difference to people’s morale.” 

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall received 61 complaints last year compared to 168 in 2019

On the issue of accommodation standards, the ombudsman said “several” accommodation centres did not have contracts renewed where they fell down on standards, which represented a “substantial sanction”.

Mr Tyndall said a shift by the Department of Children and Equality to procure apartments blocks in Letterkenny and Galway and other locations was a welcome move towards providing ‘own door’ accommodation.

The continued use of hotels and B&Bs to accommodate more than 1,000 asylum applicants, however, remains his greatest concern and will be prioritised by his staff when outreach resumes.

“There are still more than 1,100 people living in emergency accommodation which doesn’t meet the standards,” he said, adding that the department was “moving in the right direction” to reduce numbers but there was still a “way to go”.

“It’s perfectly suitable for a very short period but to spend months in it or even longer it’s not appropriate,” he added.

While welcoming the recently published white paper on ending the direct provision system, Mr Tyndall said one of the first actions should be ending the use of emergency accommodation.

“First of all they need to get people out of emergency accommodation and then gradually move away from the less suitable centres”.

The white paper model, he said, was “more realistic” and had the potential to deliver in the medium term if adequately resourced.

“I’m absolutely convinced that they have chosen the right course. Provided that it is properly resourced it is a model that can deliver,” he said, adding that any own door accommodation developed could be repurposed for other housing needs if demand fell into the future.

“There is progress but there is quite long way to go,” he said.

The ombudsman’s report comes as the Irish Examiner reveals that over €1.6bn has been paid out to accommodation contractors since the accommodation system was put in place more than 20 years ago.

The white paper proposals commit to replacing the use of private for-profit contractors with a new model involving six regional reception centres and own-door accommodation in the community by the end of 2024.