Mr. Reuben Hambakachere:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am a community development and youth worker with Cultúr Migrant Centre and am joined by my colleague, Archibald Mathibela. I speak on behalf of the Cultúr Migrant Centre staff and board, but informed by my lived experience In direct provision, DP, and the work I have been involved in since I left the protection process. Cultúr is a regional community work organisation, working across counties Meath and Louth with 19 years’ experience of working with ethnic minorities, including migrant workers, international protection applicants and refugees, to promote integration in the area. Cultúr uses a community work approach to engage with migrant communities. We work with the migrants to become agents of social change by creating conditions that allow people affected by issues to become part of developing the solutions. Our direct work with migrants includes supporting people in DP to exit smoothly to independent living and providing programmes that support people to return to education, training and employment. We deliver national and EU projects that support activities and programmes for migrants, international protection applicants and Ukrainian refugees living in Meath, Louth, Cavan and surrounding areas. Our expertise is informed by lived experience and years of delivering tailored supports to migrant communities living in the midlands region. We pride ourselves on being one of the few migrant-led organisations working at grassroots level to deliver to groups who are often left out or have difficulty in accessing mainstream services.

I will turn to the matter at hand, integration and refugees. Cultúr is concerned by the process introduced on 8 November last year by the International Protection Office when it started accelerating applications. Individuals who seek protection must do a preliminary interview and complete the questionnaire on the day they apply to the IPO. Previously, applicants were able to submit the questionnaire by mail within two weeks and had time to get legal advice and gather information. This change means applicants have no opportunity to get legal advice prior to submitting the questionnaire, which is used as a reference document throughout the entire process. We are concerned that applicants being rushed or put under such pressure will set them up for failure and lead to lengthy appeals processes. This will recreate problems that the Government has put significant investment into solving through the regularisation scheme proposed by the NGO alliance, whose members include Cultúr.

Last year there was a formal review of Ireland's asylum process to identify how it can be improved and shortened. The review recommended more investment in legal support to reduce the amount of appeals, employing and training more international protection officers and investing in digital infrastructure. We asked the committee to approach the IPO to implement these recommendations. Instead of reducing legal support, to improve the asylum process, resources should be allocated carefully and not wasted on practices that have been proven to fail in the past.

While most families are cushioned by the cost-of-living packages announced last week, the weekly expenses allowance remains at €38.80 for an adult and €29.80 for a child. Social welfare payments must provide an adequate safety net to lift people out of poverty, particularly considering increases to essentials such as rents, energy and heating costs and food prices. Even though the above-mentioned costs are not all directly applicable to people living in direct provision, families and individuals in DP are hit by inflation as the rising prices are passed on to affect all consumer goods. The people in DP should not be overlooked in the social welfare spring bonus. Even better would be a structural increase.

To help families in DP struggling to meet essential costs and prevent children going without, Cultúr asks the committee to consider recommending the following immediate responses to the Government: review the DP allowance in line with current inflation rates, extend the cost-of-living package to people seeking protection and introduce the universal child benefit to families and children in direct provision.

Cultúr notes the rise in hate and intolerance towards minorities in Ireland taking place through extremism, street protests targeting minorities, street violence, online hate speech and physical and verbal attacks targeting minorities. This manifests in people from minority groups, such as migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, LGBT+ people and Travellers, being targeted because of their identities.

This is causing significant stress and harm to members of ethnic minority groups. Without a national plan against racism, Ireland continues to operate without equality strategies that have measurable impacts built in. Equality data can help us analyse where needs are most acute and what impact interventions are having. We are calling on the Government to progress the national action plan against racism and to ensure it is accompanied by resources for community organisations to support the implementation and monitoring of the plan.

I also use this opportunity to remind the House that everyone has the right to seek and enjoy protection. However, the Cultúr Migrant Centre believes the experiences of many in the international protection process are far from this truth. I thank the committee for this opportunity and am open to answering any questions from the members.