ICCL: Government must introduce ‘proper’ direct provision inspections
A protest outside Leinster House calling for an end to the direct provision system. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has expressed concern over a pause in inspections at direct provision centres because of Covid-19.
It is urging the Government to introduce “proper” independent inspections as the system is phased out by 2024.
The civil liberties group has called on the Government to move on its commitment to ratify the UN’s Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) and create an independent inspection system for all residential institutions and places of detention, including direct provision accommodation.
The call comes as the Department of Children confirmed that twice-yearly inspections by officials remain paused because of Covid-19 but that annual inspections by an independent company, QTS Limited, had recently resumed.
ICCL said the experience of direct provision residents was that the current system of “room inspections” was “utterly inadequate” and that many residents were afraid to make complaints for fear of retribution.
“Inspections are even more important during Covid-19 given the risks to the health of people living in direct provision centres and inspectors should be playing a role in ensuring that those people living there are safe at this time of heightened concern,” said ICCL’s head of legal and policy Doireann Ansbro.
The Government, she said, must strengthen the inspection regime as it moves to phase out the direct provision system.
Ratifying the OPCAT and creating an independent inspection system led by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission would change the focus of inspections from physical conditions to how people are treated, said Ms Ansbro.
The Health Information and Quality Authority has submitted initial proposals on assuming responsibility for inspecting direct provision accommodation against national standards as the system is phased out.
