Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept that and I welcome Mr. Purcell's comments in that regard but the original idea was that this would be a short-term solution with people staying six months on average. We now have an average stay of three years and eight months with many spending more than seven years in the system, which is the equivalent of a childhood. In the meantime, we, as taxpayers, paid €62 million in 2012 to private operators for direct provision. The firm behind Mosney received €4.1 million and it received €101 million over the ten years between 2002 and 2012. I welcome a number of initiatives the Department has taken to reduce waiting times through the INIS and improvements to the citizenship process but there needs to be a sense of urgency about this.