Mr. Brian Purcell:

Ever since the establishment of the Reception and Integration Agency, it has been the subject of a number of criticisms. It is there to provide a particular service. We do not necessarily agree with some of the criticisms made regarding the services the agency provides. It is there to serve a purpose in that we must accommodate people within the system while their cases are being dealt with and it is an effective and cost-efficient mechanism for so doing. We ensure that standards are maintained. Undoubtedly, many of the people in the centres would prefer to be living in accommodation that might be provided by local authorities and so on.

However, the reality is that if everyone who was in RIA accommodation was put into circumstances where local authorities had to provide housing and other State agencies had to provide the full range of services to them outside the RIA system, the cost to the State would be massive.