Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I confirm I am in the convention centre and hope I can be heard. I thank Mr. Henderson and Dr. Lannon for their presentations. I apologise as I have two Zoom calls running at the same time and it is quite difficult. I listened with interest to both presentations. As alluded to by both speakers, the Ombudsman for Children appeared before the committee a few weeks ago and his presentation was stark. I have a number of questions and I would appreciate a response to them. Dr. Lannon referenced the Ombudsman for Children's report. From the perspective of my own interaction, there are two direct provision centres in my immediate area and I would have had much interaction with them during the years having been involved with community and sporting groups and so on. It was stark to hear all the people who were involved in those sporting and community groups had been Garda vetted and would have had clearance to deal with younger people in particular. I was quite aghast when I read in the Ombudsman's report that this was not necessarily the case. Is that widespread across the direction provision system as a whole?

My second point is a comment on the White Paper. It is great it has finally been published but we cannot let it become an excuse for our work being done. The work is only beginning. What reforms would our guests propose we need to take in the interim?

My third point relates to deaths in direct provision centres. There have been numerous newspaper articles and reports over the past few years on the number of people who have died in centres in recent years. The number who have died is contested. Do our guests have any data or reports on that or can they bring any clarity to the number of people who have died and the nature of their deaths?

My fourth point relates to unaccompanied minors and children’s issues. There have been newspaper reports that many children seeking direct provision would be under the age of 18 and once they turn 18 years of age they are removed from foster care and brought into the direct provision system. What are our guests' thoughts on that? How many people does that affect? I read newspaper reports that it involved more than 50 children.

My fifth point relates to reports from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform officials who have allegedly said direct provision targets are unrealistic, which was a headline in the Irish Independent.In particular, they flagged the concerns they had with respect to funding, decongregation of the setting and funding for housing, which was mentioned earlier. What are our guests' views on that and the challenges we face us in that regard.