Ms Sue Conlan:

It is not so much that it is not available, as I am sure local authorities would make it available without discrimination or distinction. The issue is that people do not know. As mentioned in the document we produced, one is given a letter that says one has got one's papers and 21 days to move on, although the Reception and Integration Agency allows people to stay longer because it recognises the difficulties they are in. That is the gap. There is the euphoria that one has finally got something, but then what? People who are in the system have said: "We are in Ireland but we are not of Ireland". If they are not integrated from the beginning, what they need when they leave is almost a "welcome to Ireland" pack for the first time, which would point them in the direction of the existing services. Perhaps the local authorities could be a little more proactive when they know they have these direct provision centres in their localities.

With regard to numbers, the number is increasing. In 2013-14, the number arriving and claiming asylum reduced to under 1,000, but it started to grow in 2014-15. In 2015, approximately 3,500 sought asylum in Ireland. In addition, on two occasions last year the Government entered into commitments to take an initial group from Lebanon, Jordan, Greece and Italy and then increased that. The commitment is 4,000 over two years, although that is moving very slowly. The numbers are increasing but because of Ireland's geographical location and the difficulty of getting in - as we know the borders have gone up and 50,000 are stuck in Greece - we are not seeing as many that could even make their way of their own volition. There are officers assisting the Greek authorities to determine applications. Officers from the Department of Justice and Equality are going to countries such as Greece and Italy to try and identify people who could be located here. However, I suspect the numbers will stabilise from this point on because of difficulties in travelling. They did increase quite significantly, but nowhere near the peak of 11,500 in 2002. I do not expect them to go anywhere near that.