Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that and thank Mr. Justice McMahon for sharing such up-to-date statistics with us.

We have heard Mr. Justice McMahon's view on the so-called emergency direct provision that has come into being relatively recent. We have challenged the Minister, Minister of State, who is a former Chairman of the committee, and representatives of the agencies involved on this matter. They point out that they do not have accommodation available for the numbers presenting and that their hand was forced on this issue. We are talking about private-for-profit interests because all the other centres bar those that were State owned in the first place, which are seven in number, are all private-for-profit entities. However, the situation regarding emergency direct provision comes down to what can only be described as block booked hotel and other accommodation opportunities. I am familiar with some of these in my constituency. I have personally witnessed a situation where a significant number of people are accommodated in a very rural location that is not served by public transportation and they have a big car park to walk around. This conjures up in my mind something akin to an exercise yard in a prison. I find that utterly unacceptable. What is more unacceptable is that the providers of this so-called accommodation and the Reception and Integration Agency seem happy to ignore a major inconvenience that occurred when more than 100 people - I do not have the precise number to hand - were removed from the hotel in which had been staying for some time and relocated elsewhere because the hotel had to honour a previous booking for a wedding event. These are human beings and that incident conjures up an image of a herd being moved to another field in order to facilitate whom? It is offensive, disgraceful and a very black mark on Ireland.

The joint committee will hold a series of engagements with the widest number of people we can physically accommodate. The expressed interest is beyond what we can facilitate. For this reason, I am laying great emphasis on the fact that we are open to receiving submissions. We will meet representatives of the Irish Refugee Council and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, MASI, next week. We decided earlier in private on our meeting of 12 June and we will meet again on 19 June. We will also have planned visits, as Deputy Fitzpatrick noted.

We greatly appreciate the witnesses' attendance, the submissions they forwarded to us and their opening statements. We had more members in attendance than I expected or feared, which is great. The joint committee has 11 members and we had seven of our number in attendance today, which is not bad given the week that is in it. I thank Ms Mary Henderson, Mr. Brian Killoran, Mr. Justice Bryan McMahon, Mr. Enda O'Neill, Ms Maria Hennessy and Ms Caroline Stephens for their participation and assistance in this process. We will invite them to the launch of our report and if they are in a position to attend it that would be great. We intend to launch it publicly with recommendations that will be the result of a process of discussion among us. Hopefully, we will reach consensus on real and practical recommendations that will make a difference in the lives of people who are looking to us in times of agony in their lives for help and assistance. I also thank Senator Black for staying the course.