Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo the point made by Deputy O’Dowd. There is a serious issue with this 90-day period for two reasons. Deputy O’Dowd has correctly made the point that there will be people in very invidious positions who have already fled conflict and who may not have any other place to go after that 90-day period.

I believe there is an incentive for people to compete in the private market. I know the Minister is talking about keeping it separate. Yet, she is going ahead with the 90-day period and she is also creating a huge difference in the amount that will be received by those who are outside the accommodation. I have given the example of two parents and two children. They would have €478 per week and €280 per month, with child benefit on top of that. They would have €800 towards rent. However, somebody inside the centre would have €137.20 per week. It is not difficult to see how people might decide they might be able to find something in the private rental market. This would add further competition to an already overheated market. There is a serious problem there for two reasons. There will be a serious issue when people leave accommodation because they might choose accommodation by competing in the private rental market.

My last point is on the fact that the payment rates hang so completely on the designation. This is flimsy and I do not think it will be able to achieve a complete separation. I do not think it amounts to a coherent plan or policy. I request that in advance of Report Stage, either in correspondence or through a meeting, this committee get a clear sense from the Department of children about where these centres will be, what they will look like and if they will be completely independent and separate from the accommodation that is being provided to date. We ought to know a bit more about it. I do not have an issue with us being brought into line with other countries, but the distinction between inside and outside that creates problems. I think we should be trying to accommodate people in the centres. Then, after the winding down of the temporary protection order, people will have choices in terms of visas and international protection. Yet for this period, I think the centres should be where the focus is.