Mr. Sean Garvey:

We had two complaints in 2020 on that point. The situation is different for UN programme refugees, whose right to reside has already been established before they arrive in the country. They remain in the small number of reception and orientation centres, such as Ballaghaderreen, pending the allocation of housing. It is a different scenario from most direct provision residents who are awaiting a decision on the right to remain. EROC residents are awaiting allocation of housing.

As Mr. Tyndall said, it was the case that people were assigned to a county list and, depending on the speed at which each local authority moved, that determined when they were housed. That has changed and it is more of a housing-need basis on which decisions are made. In the case I referred to in 2020, a family from Ballaghaderreen was to be accommodated in Wicklow. They were particularly close to another family in the centre who were to be accommodated elsewhere. We were able to engage with the Irish refugee protection programme unit within the Department of Justice, which was responsible for the programme refugees. As a result, those two families were housed in the same development.

There is more flexibility under the current system to deliver on the type of scenario the Senator raised. That was the one case of that sort brought to our attention in 2020. It could be that other people are having the same issues. The big change was the moving away from the county-by-county list and having people allocated based on housing need, which gives more room for flexibility.