Ms Oonagh Buckley:

Ten or 11 centres meet the independent living standard so approximately 2,500 people have independent living standards. These are the arrangements such as those the members saw in Mosney. A further 1,400 people have access to independent cooking facilities and can provide their own food. They do not have the on-site shop. By the middle of next year, we aim to have completed the procurement process and achieved the new standards across the entire complex of direct provision centres, that is, existing centres and new ones that may come on stream through the procurement process. We obviously need additional direct provision centres to come on stream to provide us with additional beds. I do not have a figure in my head for the number of current centres that may not meet the standards. It is not necessarily the case that centres will open or close because they do not meet the standards. Hatch Hall in Dublin city centre, for example, is due to close. There is no suggestion that this centre is closing because it would not have met the standards. It is closing because of a commercial decision to redevelop it into a hotel.