Dr. Niall Muldoon:

On the one piece the Chair asked about why we think the McMahon report’s recommendations were not followed up on, it is hard to tell exactly why. My sense is that political decisions were made that certain recommendations would not be followed through. That is probably the nature of the new programme for Government. It was strong on what direct provision was going to be done. The Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, has taken it on himself to create the White Paper that paves the way for new a new future for those children and families. Without the recommendations within the McMahon Report we would not be where we are now. Unfortunately, this should have been done perhaps four or five years ago. However, where we are now is really the best outline. As the Chair said, our direct provision system was set up for a six-month cycle. Back in 1990, we expected there was an influx of immigrants that would disappear and that nobody would want to come to Ireland. However, we just kept building on it. It started off on shifting sands and it never got any more secure for children or families. This is the first time we have planned for a continuous stream of people coming here at different stages with different vulnerabilities with the intention of providing for them in the best way possible and of allowing them to be integrated into our country as soon as they come in the door, regardless of what decision we make at the end of the process. That is something to look forward to.