Dr. John Lannon:

I will address the Chairman's second question first. We have engaged with the HSE to attempt to get better supports and services for people in centres. A phrase I have used is "forced idleness", which is a reality for many people in direct provision. Access to work is available now for anyone who has been six months in the country. A person can apply for a work permit and he or she would then be fortunate to get work. A person living in the direct provision centre in Limerick city has a much better chance of work than a person living in a far remote area of County Clare or some other counties. Sitting idly without access to employment or education, having been traumatised through displacement, persecution and perhaps oppression prior to coming to Ireland has meant the problematic nature is exacerbated by resort to substance misuse. We do not have research on that. There is limited research on the prevalence of substance misuse among protection applicants but many risk factors such as social exclusion, long-term unemployment and stresses associated with previous experiences are evident. We need a proactive approach to ensure supports and services are available to people in centres right across the country. There are 80 of them. We note and welcome the promise by Government to start closing the emergency accommodation centres. However, as Mr. Henderson said, there needs to be a plan for how to respond to the closure of those centres. We need to ensure accommodation is available, that the backlog is cleared and, most importantly, we want to avoid returning situations where there is not only over-crowding but more overcrowding in centres where people are sharing, which, in itself, is contributing to even more distress and anxiety for people.