Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the matter of the cost of looking after and supporting people who are seeking asylum status here in Ireland, it is completely correct that the State supports them while they are here and seeking for the process to be completed. A recent report found the Department of Justice and Equality spent €655 million on asylum seekers' accommodation from 2000 to 2010. Obviously, this is a very large amount of money but, as I stated, it is spent for people who deserve accommodation as they wait for a decision to be made for them. An additional report found that one company was paid €89.5 million across the period. What steps have been taken to monitor the current cost of direct provision accommodation? What steps have been taken by the Department to reduce that cost?