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

I will respond briefly to some of the points made before asking a series of questions. I take on board the point that the housing crisis is doubtless a significant consideration. It affects every sphere of life, including those who have received their papers and are in a position to apply for local authority housing, secure HAP and so on. There is nowhere else for those people to go at this time. The work will be important if we do it right. We need to take a view that looks to the future, beyond when the housing crisis has abated, which I hope it will do. We need to aim for the best possible system. Improvements may have been made to direct provision such as in respect of self-catering and the right to work, which is important. Nevertheless, not only asylum seekers but also the public have lost confidence in the system. The public consider direct provision a dirty term. People feel ashamed and embarrassed about it. While they may have different views of the reality of direct provision, that is the perception in society. There is a feeling that people's human rights have been, and are being, frequently breached. If we are to map out a report, therefore, we have an obligation not simply to consider incremental changes but to map out the best system that Ireland can deliver to receive people fleeing war, conflict and destitution, and to ensure that we treat them with the dignity they deserve. Although it may be an ambitious objective, we should pursue it.

A point was made about the location of direct provision centres. Asylum seekers have many appointments, generally in Dublin. It was recently noted that it takes ten hours to travel from Moville to Dublin and back and involves travelling through the Six Counties, which is not permitted, strictly speaking. It is possible to complete the journey from Lisdoonvarna and back in one day but one will have only a short period in Dublin. Travelling from Kenmare is likely to require an overnight trip, while Mount Trenchard does not have access to a public bus. Not all direct provision centres should be located in Dublin but a balance must be struck in that as much as possible, the services that people require in Dublin should be brought to where they reside. Surely the centres should be located in places that are reasonably easy to access by public transport. It is a fair expectation.

Another point was made that people leaving direct provision centres often either find their own accommodation or stay with friends and then find themselves homeless and seek readmission to direct provision centres that are not in a position to grant readmission. That problem was identified by the immigrant council. It has been said the matter is probably contrary to the recast directive.

Does Mr. O'Neill consider it possible to predict trends in the coming years? Does he expect Brexit, with or without a deal, to have a significant impact on the number of people seeking asylum in Ireland?

I thank our guests for appearing before the committee.