Mr. Greg Straton:

In terms of skills sets, abilities and prospects, this is an interesting question. I referred to the need to be informed by people's long-term prospects. We are encountering varying levels of skills. I know of an obstetrician who previously worked with Médecins Sans Frontières and spent four years in the asylum process without being allowed to work. There are skilled professionals who were probably regarded as a danger to the state in their countries of origin and are coming here to seek protection from persecution. There are also individuals with limited skills who require a high degree of support. This highlights the fact that we do not assess people on this basis when they arrive at reception. In Ireland we engage in reception very badly in assessing what people need and can offer. We should do this when they first arrive in order to maximise their potential, while also ensuring they are properly supported through the process.

That brings me to the issue of health care, which is often patchy and difficult. GPs and primary carers can be very skilled at providing support, but it depends on the area to which an individual is dispersed. Often the dispersal decision is not well informed. Women who were subjected to sexual violence as part of their torture experience have been dispersed to locations which lack support services in dealing with these issues. We are not using the reception phase to assess an individual's needs and ensure he or she has access to adequate health care.

This is related to the issue of travel. People access our services from around the country, including Limerick, Cork, Galway and Kerry. Community welfare officers in the Department of Social Protection are often very good at providing support for travel. Sometimes, however, too much discretion is exercised by community welfare officers. If they do not like an individual, it can often be difficult to overcome that dislike and we find ourselves advocating for him or her. However, if an individual is travelling to Spirasi to attend a therapeutic appointment, we do not generally have problems in this regard, although we encounter episodic issues.