Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not ask about the inadequacy of the direct provision payment. I will leave that to somebody else.

Is it automatic that every child in the direct provision system will receive child benefit? I understand the idea of credits and that it is difficult to imagine a scheme under which credited social insurance contributions would be given to those in the direct provision system if they had not worked in the country before. In some cases, however, they might have because not everybody in the direct provision system applied for asylum straightaway. There must be some scheme to recognise the period when the State denied them the ability to work. It is not necessarily a scheme under which they can immediately receive social welfare payments. I imagine more a scheme such as that for women when they were refused back into the Civil Service after they had married. Many years later the Government gave them some recognition for the period in which they were prevented from working. It could be something similar in this case. It would not necessarily give people a benefit immediately but would be more for pensions where a whole-life contribution would be taken into account. In 40 years time a person who had been in the direct provision system for ten years might have a gap in his or her social insurance contributions. It is a scary concept that such a person could be punished again in the future because he or she had no mechanism to plug the hole in contributions which had not been caused by him or her.

I welcome the assistance the Department is providing for people with rental deposits. There are over 400 people in the direct provision system who do not need to be in it who but cannot find a home suitable for themselves because of the cost involved. Most people interviewed by the committee wanted to be close to the direct provision centre because their kids went to school nearby. The kids at the Mosney centre, for example, attended local schools in Julianstown or Drogheda. They hope to locate in these areas, but there is not enough social housing available and they are not in work because they have not been allowed to work and are disconnected from the workplace. The current facility mentioned in the report has to do with landlords in the main who are increasing their rent; therefore, it does not apply to those in the direct provision system. If people cannot access housing in their own right outside direct provision centres and they have to keep taking up a space in a centre which otherwise would either be closed or given to someone else, does the Department of Social Protection pay rent to the Department of Justice and Equality? In other cases older people’s housing units run by different agencies charge tenants a certain amount. The tenants are told then to obtain rent allowance. Is there a similar set-up in these instances?

Much play has been made of the contribution made by the emergency needs payment. It is welcome that it is available. However, it is not as substantial as has been made out. Up to €134,000 has been made available, but with 4,800 people in direct provision accommodation, it means a figure of €280 per person per year. That is not that substantial, given the heartache and hardship endured by those in direct provision accommodation. On top of this, why is it that not all children in the direct provision system receive child benefit?