Mr. Greg Straton:

Regarding the question about the number of people taking up direct provision, it is between 80% and 90%. I cannot remember exactly but not all asylum seekers take up direct provision as an option. That is a particular issue for some of our service users because if one does not take up direct provision, one will have access to a medical card, the €19.10 weekly payment for an adult or the €9.60 payment for a child. We suspect that they use those two mechanisms to force people into direct provision. We have people who are victims of torture who may sleep rough or sleep on friend's couches and so on. They may have serious mental health issues. We know of people who had psychiatric issues and who could not take up direct provision such as Mount Trenchard. They left because the accommodation is not suitable and they lost all access to psychiatric care and medication. That is difficult for us, especially when we are trying to work with primary care providers to rehabilitate victims of torture. If they are not in direct provision, it can often be a big issue for us to overcome. Not everybody takes it up.