Justice department responds to claims that five men shared one room in direct provision centre

Cahersiveen locals and residents from the Skellig Star Direct Provision Centre came out in numbers on Tuesday evening urging the Government to 'Act Now' before the situation in Cahersiveen get worse.

The Department of Justice has moved to quash claims that five men in direct provision were required to share a room in contravention of its own Covid-19 policy to limit numbers to “no more than three” non-family members.

The Department was responding to claims that five men were sharing a room after being transferred from the Skellig Star facility in Caherciveen to new accommodation in Ennis this week.

The transfer follows concerns about conditions at the Caherciveen facility, where a hunger strike by residents was suspended after the Department committed to finding alternative accommodation.

Sharing a video showing the new accommodation at the Ennis facility on Twitter, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland said it was told that five men were sharing one room and that it was “sick of this nonsense”.

The tweet was widely shared and drew criticism from many on the social media platform.

Prior to the #COVID19 pandemic, Clare Lodge Direct Provision centre in Ennis had 7 asylum-seeking men in 1 bedroom. Today we are told they have 5 asylum seekers in 1 bedroom. Minister @HMcEntee @rodericogorman, we're sick of this nonsense. #EndDirectProvision pic.twitter.com/jMmLkHNgAP

— MASI - Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (@masi_asylum) August 13, 2020

Earlier this week, the Irish Refugee Council published a survey, which found that half of direct provision residents felt they were unable to socially distance from others during the pandemic.

The Department, however, has confirmed that three men were transferred to the Ennis facility and placed in a five-bedded room and insisted that no more than three non-family members are sharing rooms at present.

“While the Department does not normally comment on reports on social media, we can confirm that three residents were transferred to a '5-person' room with two vacant spaces, allowing those three residents additional space for physical distancing,” a spokesperson for the Department said, adding that centre management have since been asked to remove the two spare beds from the room.

“The Department would reiterate that we implemented a new policy, very early on in the pandemic, to ensure that no more than 3 non-family members share a room in any of our centres. We are committed to continuing this policy into the future,” they added.

The Department also confirmed that the direct provision centre in Miltown Malbay in Clare, which was also the subject of complaints from residents, will close permanently on Friday.

“The final transfers from the centre are being completed today. The Department does not intend to continue use of this emergency accommodation centre,” a spokesperson confirmed.