Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for the submission and their explanations of it. I think Deputy McDonald has highlighted the need for transparency, completeness and accuracy of information on the bureaucracy side in regard to the files, the information and the statistics. However, there is also the visibility of the human picture side, which actually affects the lives of the people in these centres. I tried to visit a centre once. The security firms subcontracted to mind the centres were mentioned. It is a little bit like a 21st century equivalent of the Magdalen laundry experience. It is a tightly chaperoned type of experience when the children go to school and where they do two thirds of their living. Approximately eight hours of the day might be spent at school or otherwise while two thirds, or 16 hours, are spent within the confines of the centre.

It is timely and relevant that we get visibility of these centres. Maybe it is my own lack of curiosity, and I should be more responsible in finding out, but I do not know the number of people who are in the centres, the mix of men and women or boys and girls, or their ages. Even following this short presentation, I have become aware that deaths and sicknesses occur. Again, the visibility of the care is very restricted. This visit is an opportunity to prompt us all to be more inquiring and more alert.

When refugees come to this country, they probably arrive at airports and seaports. Do all, some or none have documentation? I am sure that in a refugee situation one does not look for one's passport or birth certificate. One could be in a life-or-death situation exiting from a country and travelling literally in the clothes one is wearing. Will the witnesses tell me a little about that?