Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the speakers for their attendance. I hope this is the start of a valuable process that will allow us to consider where there have been failings and how we can map a better system. I would like to think - I think many other members of the committee agree - that in the long run there will be a radically transformed system. There have been significant failings in the direct provision system and the way we have treated people who are fleeing war and persecution. In many instances, their human rights have been failed significantly and many have suffered great hardship, some caused, as identified in all of the statements, by the delay and inordinate amount of time they have spent in the system. There have been other failings too.

The IPO is still processing more or less the same number of applications, or even slightly fewer than the number coming in. Is the solution simply the provision of resources? Are there not enough staff in the IPO to deal adequately not only with the backlog but also with the number of applicants?

Is there any sense that the private model we have chosen is flawed? I appreciate that this is the justice committee, but in many respects these are accommodation and housing issues and asylum seekers who in the long run will become long-term residents or Irish citizens will eventually have to be housed. Would it not be better to provide accommodation for people quickly, whether through voluntary housing agencies, the local authorities or direct build? The Immigrant Council of Ireland touched on this issue. The most significant element of people's criticism and concern about the direct provision system is its significant human rights failings, although it has cost over €1.25 billion since 2001. For a parent and two children, the cost is €40,000 per annum, which is more expensive than many other forms of housing.