Sr. Breege Keenan:

We would like to thank the committee for the invitation and for giving us the opportunity to highlight the experiences of migrant communities engaging with State bodies, the healthcare system and other social services. Mr. Neenan and I work in Crosscare information and advocacy services, CIAS, which consists of three projects: our housing and welfare information, our refugee service and the migrant project. While the three projects have discrete target groups and areas of expertise, we work collaboratively on crosscutting issues and work towards a common goal of increased stability and quality of life for vulnerable and marginalised populations. We work with EEA and non-EEA migrants, refugees, family members of refugees and Irish nationals who return with their non-EU family members. CIAS takes a multipronged approach to addressing the needs of migrants which includes direct information and support; capacity building of service providers and influencing policy through shared learning, networking and advocacy.

Organisations like Crosscare and the Immigrant Council of Ireland are some of the most trusted ones among migrant communities. While we sometimes have to critique statutory bodies and advocate strongly on behalf of our clients when they cannot access their rights and entitlements, we are involved in many initiatives in partnership with Government Departments and agencies.

From March 2020 we reconfigured our work so that we could support our clients remotely, retaining in-person meetings for clients with literacy, language and digital literacy issues. This was only possible due to the experience and knowledge gained over years of close work with migrant communities, and a real awareness of their unique needs. In 2020, more than 11,000 people from more than 5,000 households and from 125 countries benefited from our services.

Our work is becoming more challenging as State bodies move many services online. While these are effective for those who are skilled and digitally capable, they can form very significant barriers for many migrants where language, literacy, access to devices and digital skills are not present and the migrant is alienated and left behind. Migrants who come to work must register online with Revenue and with the Department of Social Protection for a PPS number. Non-EEA migrants need to register with Immigration Service Delivery, ISD, to obtain their Irish residence permit, IRP, card and for a PPS number, among other things. For all online services migrants need to have an email address and assumptions are made as to their understanding of English and digital skills.

We are culturally sensitive to the needs of migrants and take an intercultural approach which is about making the unfamiliar more familiar and understanding what it is like to walk in somebody else’s shoes. Many officials fail to recognise the effect migration has on an individual and how his or her experiences in his or her country of origin can impact on his or her engagement with State bodies. For example, a refugee received a phone call from an official who told her quite simply that if she found a job and was working she would not be depressed. Many refugees and migrants are victims of unspeakable atrocities which make them vulnerable to depression and post-traumatic stress.

The absence of appropriate levels of interpreter services directly impacts the capacity for certain vulnerable migrant households to engage with and be served by State bodies. Our 2018 research document, "Do you speak English?", explored the extent to which the Department of Social Protection’s policy to provide interpreters was implemented and accessed by customers. It showed limited use of interpreters, and in many cases children effectively providing these services. It is wrong to have children interpreting for their parents, due the sensitive issues that have to be discussed. We believe that all migrants should be able to communicate in their own native language. The Department of Social Protection is one of the few public services that has a publicly available interpreting facility. For example, local authorities and the Department of Justice do not appear to have any interpreter services.

Evidence shows that migrants are disproportionately impacted by the housing and homelessness crisis. While making up less than a fifth of the population nationally, migrants represent one third of the homeless population in the Dublin region.

Non-EU migrants have the additional layer of immigration residency permission that can limit their ability to access social services. This is most likely to become evident in situations of crisis that precipitate homelessness; for example, family breakdown, domestic violence and family members joining their sponsor under the International Protection Act 2015.

While cognisant of limited resources, we see some concerning evidence of families being split across emergency shelter provision. A refugee presented to a local authority and there was no hostel available to accommodate the sponsor with his family, who had just arrived in Ireland from a war-torn country and were unable to speak English. When he contacted the local authority, he wrote in a WhatsApp message:

I ring the number. She’s gone mad. She’s telling me that if I couldn’t afford then why did you bring your family to Ireland. I couldn’t let them die in... she said she’s gonna speak to someone and she will call me back. I hope that she will ring me back.

Later, when he contacted us again, he said:

They did find a place for my wife and daughter but she is crying, she doesn’t want to go [there] alone. I am trying to make her understand.

The above example illustrates to us a service provider under extreme pressure who also appears to have no cultural understanding of what that family had gone through. Despite migrants being disproportionately impacted by the housing crisis, there is no mention of housing and homelessness in the current migrant integration strategy. Crosscare has campaigned to have it included in the next strategy and is hopeful it will be given due consideration.

Local authorities' reliance on the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage's housing Circular 41/2012, Access to social housing supports for non-Irish nationals, has long been a factor in barring access to social housing supports including emergency shelter for migrants. The circular is not law but it is relied on by local authorities to assess applications and its guidance is used in an inflexible way to refuse social housing applications, including access to emergency accommodation for migrants who do not fit clearly within one of the categories contained in the circular. While progress has been made in relation to access to emergency shelter, access routes remain unclear and migrants report a hostile environment when trying to access such supports.

I will now speak on the social protection system linked to the immigration system. Non-EU migrants applying to the Department of Social Protection for payments must have a right to reside in the State in order to satisfy the eligibility criteria for means-tested payments. Once right to reside is established, they can proceed to be assessed under the habitual residence condition in order to access assistance payments.

The Department of Social Protection requests that they provide a permission letter from the Department of Justice detailing the conditions of their immigration permission. Not all migrants have permission letters because many register directly with an immigration officer. There may be changes over the years in standard lengths of permission initially granted and in the wording of letters, which can make it confusing for Department of Social Protection staff to ascertain whether a person is able to renew their permission. This is an example of two Departments having different rules and understanding of each other’s processes and the impact is felt by the migrant applicant.

The freedom of movement of workers is intrinsic to the success of the European Union. EU nationals have no automatic Irish social welfare entitlements on arrival in the state. Directive 2004/38/EC sets out that EU nationals have a right to reside in another member state for three months, so long as they do not become a burden on the social assistance system of the state. In order to legally reside for longer than three months, they must be a worker, self-employed person or have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members. Being recognised as economically active or being the family member of another EU citizen with a right to reside can support more direct access to rights and entitlements without the need to satisfy the habitual residence condition, but difficulties often arise.

Overall, migrants can experience difficulties accessing services in the first instance. Difficulties with the correct and consistent application of the right to reside and the habitual residence condition are ongoing. Continuing issues arise due to a lack of front-line awareness of migrants’ vulnerabilities around culture, language, literacy and digital challenges. This extends into job seeking and activation supports offered by the Department of Social Protection.

We have the following recommendations. There should be intercultural awareness training to ensure staff in State bodies are supported and equipped to work with diverse population groups and publicly available protocols. There should be operational guidelines between all State bodies working with migrants, especially the immigration service delivery of the Department of Justice, local authorities and the Department of Social Protection. The deployment of digital services must be sensitised to vulnerable groups. Interpreting services should be readily, widely and on a timely basis available to migrants accessing State bodies. A professional qualification for interpreters like in the UK where they have a diploma in public service interpreting should be developed. Department of Social Protection officials, services and supports need more support around migrant rights and entitlements and services need to be sensitised to migrant vulnerabilities and need for targeted measures. The immigration service delivery in the Department of Justice could provide a clear breakdown of relevant immigration permissions, how permission letters may differ and how permissions can be renewed, including clear references to the fact that some permission letters instruct renewal with local immigration officers and not in writing. In relation to homeless services, access to homeless services must be aligned with the assessment laid down in primary legislation. On social housing, housing Circular 41/2012 must be updated to ensure that it reflects the relevant changes in Irish immigration law, such as the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015 and relevant case law.

I thank the committee for listening.