Operators of direct provision centre say photos of bags of food were 'staged'

The operators of the Eglinton Direct Provision Centre said they could 'categorically state' that food is either served on plates or in plastic takeaway containers when requested by residents.

A video purporting to show food being served in plastic bags at a direct provision centre was “staged”, according to the operators of the accommodation.

Senior officials at the department responsible for housing asylum seekers also complained of the waste of time involved in responding to “totally unsubstantiated social media claims”.

The video, which went viral on social media last November, showed food being put into a plastic bag at a food counter in an accommodation centre in Salthill, Galway.

However, the operators of the centre told the Department of Children they could provide CCTV of the entire incident and that another resident would corroborate their account of what happened.

In a briefing prepared for the department, they said a person had come into the restaurant to collect food, which was put into two normal containers used for takeaway items.

It said: “The waiter was getting another container when [an individual] went over to the fruit section, took a white bag and handed it to the waiter to put food in.

“The waiter said to [the individual] that this was not allowed by management. He said he did not care what management said and insisted the food be put into the bag.” 

The operators of the Eglinton Direct Provision Centre said they could “categorically state” that food is either served on plates or in plastic takeaway containers when requested by residents.

Their briefing said: “The food we provide for our residents is of the highest quality and standard. Our suppliers provide records of food tracing, and a HACCP [food safety management] system is in place with our chefs and kitchen staff.” 

They said the whole episode had been “staged” to cause trouble for them and that they would be happy to provide CCTV footage of what happened.

The viral sharing of the video caused consternation in the department, with one senior official expressing anger about how it had spread.

Principal officer and head of operations Shane O’Connor described it as an “unsubstantiated, and as far as I’m concerned, disproven allegation”.

“It erodes confidence in the reforms the International Protection Accommodation Service has been making,” he told colleagues.

 “Valuable resources which would be better spent on our customers are being diverted to deal with totally unsubstantiated social media claims," Mr O'Connor added. 

Asked about the records, the Department of Children said: “On this occasion, after an investigation was carried out, it transpired that the allegation of food being routinely served in plastic bags was fabricated."